Sales activity ramped up in October after a brief dip in mortgage rates, according to the latest report from the Northwest Multiple Listing Service (NWMLS).

Mortgages rates fell to 6.08% at the end of September, offering a brief respite for buyers in the Northwest region. Buyers were quick to take advantage of the decrease, with closings rising 11% month over month and 22.5% year over year. However, rates rose to 6.72% by the end of October, so it’s uncertain whether sales activity will remain strong throughout the rest of the year and into 2025.

“The only thing that seems certain about this market is that houses are not becoming more affordable due to the ongoing combination of high interest rates and rising prices,” Steven Bourassa, director of the Washington Center for Real Estate Research at the University of Washington, said in the report.

The median home price rose 2.4% month over month to $650,000, which is nearly 8% higher than in October 2023. In King County, meanwhile, the median sales price was $865,000 — $65,000 higher than it was a year ago.

Despite unpredictable conditions for buyers, one certainty is that inventory is far higher than it was a year ago. Realtors added 7,726 properties to the MLS in October, a 26% increase year over year. Total active inventory jumped 29.8% year over year, with 14,795 properties for sale compared to 11,403 in October 2023. Active inventory was up even higher — 35.4% — in King County, marking one of the highest increases of any county in the region.

Additionally, months of inventory across the Northwest region rose to 2.28, meaning it would take just over two months to sell every home in the NWMLS at the current rate of sales. A year prior, there was a 2.16-month supply. Supply was slightly lower in counties in and around the Seattle metro area, including Snohomish (1.53 months), Thurston (1.77 months), King (1.98 months), Kitsap (1.99 months) and Pierce (2.06 months).