Bellingham home prices continue to skyrocket. Here’s why
With so few homes available in Bellingham this summer, buyers are finding it is extremely difficult to get into a new place unless they put down a huge amount of money.
On Tuesday, Aug. 11, the Bellingham area, which has a population of more than 90,000 people, had 89 homes for sale. The average list price — adding up all the list prices and dividing by 89 — came to a staggering $1.03 million. The median price for those homes (or the midpoint) was $675,000.
Troy Muljat, managing broker at Muljat Group Commercial, said the inventory is nearly at a record low for Bellingham. Also skewing the average list price is some very expensive homes that are on the market. One home currently for sale is listed at just under $14 million.
The COVID-19 pandemic appears to be a factor for the lack of new listings, with people not wanting to move unless they need to for situations like a new job.
“We did not see the homes that typically come on the market this year,” Muljat said.
That’s led to some very unusual bidding wars, particularly in the $500,000 price range, which is now “unbelievably” being considered the range for first-time home buyers, said Kena Greer Brashear, managing broker at Muljat Group Realtors.
Muljat said one home originally listed at $500,000 received 22 offers, pushing the final price to $575,000. Brashear noted that last week the most active housing price point in Bellingham was in the $749,000 range.
Along with the pandemic’s impact, there are several other factors keeping inventory low, Brashear said. Interest rates are at historic lows, allowing people the opportunity to borrow more to get the house they want. She said agents are also seeing a lot more multi-generational home purchases, as well as more interest from people relocating from bigger cities, including Seattle.
There are also fewer buildable lots left in Bellingham and permit fees are high, she said.
Permit data from the city indicate a significant slowdown in single-family home construction. Permits were approved for 65 single-family homes in 2020 through July; during the same time last year the city had approved 115 permits.
Across Whatcom County, home sales remain steady. According to data from the Northwest Multiple Listing Service, local agents sold 376 houses and condominiums, just slightly off the July 2019 total of 388. The median price for those homes sold last month was $422,500 a nearly 10% increase compared to July 2019.
According to the NWMLS data, inventory in Whatcom County was a little over a month in July, meaning that if no new homes came on the market it would take that long before the current inventory disappeared. A balanced market for buyers and sellers is typically six months.
This story was originally published August 14, 2020 at 5:00 AM.
