It was an extraordinary third quarter for Whatcom home sales. Here’s what happened
The COVID-19 pandemic put the brakes on many aspects of the Whatcom economy this summer, but that wasn’t the case for selling houses.
Local real estate agents had an extraordinary third quarter, according to the latest report put together by Troy Muljat of Muljat Group Realtors. Despite extremely low inventory, sales from July through September rose 13.2% in Whatcom County, including a staggering 26% jump in Bellingham. The report is based on data collected from the Northwest Washington Multiple Listing Service.
Median home prices also soared, according to the data. The median price, or the midpoint of all the sales, was $450,000 in Whatcom County during the third quarter. That’s a 12.5% increase compared to the same period in 2019.
In Bellingham, the median price was $550,000, up 16.5% compared to a year ago.
How is it possible to have big jumps in home sales while there were so few homes available? Muljat said there was a surge of new inventory in the third quarter, but it was quickly snapped up by buyers. A house would go on the market in July and in many cases have multiple offers, selling in a few days.
When the dust settled in October, inventory was lower than in the spring. On Friday, Oct. 2, there were just 76 houses for sale in Bellingham, which has a population of more than 90,000.
The surge of new listings in the third quarter is unusual in Whatcom County. New listings typically peak in the spring months, but the COVID-19 pandemic and the restrictions in place resulted in many people delaying their selling plans.
Even so, the new summer inventory was not enough to keep up with demand, Muljat said.
Where is this demand coming from? While the pandemic hasn’t led to a flood of people leaving major urban areas, local real estate agents did see a significant increase in out-of-area buyers.
“People are relocating from areas like Seattle, Portland and California,” said Kena Greer Brashear, managing broker for Muljat Group Realtors. “I’ve helped several clients relocate from Seattle because they want to get out of the city.”
The trend of increasing sales and rising prices was also the case in the smaller Whatcom communities. Year-over-year median prices rose more than 10% in Birch Bay, Blaine, Nooksack Valley and Sudden Valley, while increases in Mount Baker, Ferndale and Lynden area were in the 5-8% range.
All of the Whatcom communities studied had year-over-year sales increases of 7% or more.
Going forward, Muljat expects real estate will remain busy this fall up until the holidays. Given the market conditions in place, including low interest rates combined with little inventory, he expects Whatcom County home prices to continue rising for the next 12 months.
“Nothing in the data suggests that the story will change soon,” Muljat said.
