Affordability remained a buyer constraint in February, according to the latest report from the Northwest Multiple Listing Service (NWMLS).

Although 30-year mortgage rates decreased from 6.95% to 6.76% during the month, the median price rose 2.4% month over month to $630,000.

Those high prices kept buyers sidelined despite increased inventory: Active listings were up 39.4% year over year, but transactions only increased 1.9% year over year. Pending sales decreased 1.4% year over year.

“On balance relative to a year ago, more homeowners are wanting to sell, but buyers continue to be challenged by affordability,” Steven Bourassa, director of the Washington Center for Real Estate Research, said in a press release.

Meanwhile, uncertainty surrounding tariffs isn’t good for housing affordability, either. “The prices of materials will have a major impact on affordability, and increases in construction costs will affect the prices of existing homes in addition to new homes,” said Bourassa. “CoreLogic has estimated that the tariffs might increase the cost of home construction by 4% to 6% across the country, while household fixtures, such as appliances and cabinets, could increase in price by 10% to 20%.”

Despite the huge annual increase in overall active listings, inventory remains low in the region. Across the 26 counties in the NWMLS territory, it would take 2.45 months to sell all homes on the market at the current rate of sales.

Inventory is even lower in many of the counties in and around Seattle, including Snohomish (1.44 months), Pierce (2.07 months) and King (2.14 months) counties.