Median home price, sales climbed last month in Thurston County

The spring home buying season heated up in May with more than 300 residential properties exchanging hands in Thurston County despite inventory levels that remain among the lowest in Washington.

The activity helped push the median price for a residence in the county to $547,000 in May from $510,000 in May 2024, according to the Northwest Multiple Listing Service’s Monthly Market Update. That marked an increase of 7.25 percent in the period.

At the same time, the residential market recorded 314 sold listings, up from 298 sold listings. That marked a gain of 5.36 percent in the period.

The condominium market was flat with the median price coming in unchanged at $315,000 in May. However, there was a slight uptick in sales to 16 in May from 15 in May 2024. That marked the second straight month condo sales have increased from the same period a year ago.

Condo and home sales have been influenced by continued low inventory levels in the region — something that has carried over from the previous year.

A total of 2.12 months of inventory existed in May, which ranked Thurston County as the third lowest in the state, the data showed. That broke a string of two straight months in which the inventory level had been below 2.00 months.

Snohomish County ranked lowest at 1.97 months of inventory, followed by Kitsap County at 2.01 months. Pierce County and Cowlitz County rounded out the top five with 2.18 and 2.21 months of inventory, respectively.

“A balanced market is considered to be (four) to (six) months by most industry experts,” the Northwest Multiple Listing Service (NWMLS) said in its Monthly Market Update.

“At the current rate of sales, it would take a little more than two and a half months (2.83) to sell every home that is active in the NWMLS inventory.”

In another sign that the housing market is perking up, active residential listings leaped 27.51 percent to 658 in May from 516 in May 2024. At the same time, active condo listings soared 51.85 percent to 41 from 27.

New residential listings climbed 7.69 percent to 560 in May from 520 in May 2024, while new condo listings rose 6.66 percent to 16 from 15 in the same period.

Pending residential sales weighed in at 426 in May, up 1.67 percent from 419 in May 2024, while pending condo sales jumped 41.17 percent to 24 from 17.