The number of homes for sale has hit a new low in Whatcom County. Here’s what that means
Potential homeowners who had trouble finding a home to buy in Whatcom County last year are not going to be happy about how things have started in 2021.
Last month Whatcom County’s “for sale” listings totaled 224, according to data from the Northwest Multiple Listing Service. That’s half the total compared to February 2020, when inventory was already considered tight at 448 listings. During the previous four years, active listings were in the 450-550 range in February.
The extremely low inventory has led to buyers offering more than the list price on properties. Braden Gustafson, senior appraiser at Gustafson & Associates, found that buyers were paying nearly 102% of the list price in February, the highest monthly total in the past five years.
Between 2016-2019, buyers on average paid under 100% of the list price. In the second half of 2020 buyers on average were paying slightly over the listed price.
Given where things are now and what’s happening with new listings, Gustafson expects to see buyers paying around 103% of the list price on average in April and May, which is usually the peak time of year for list prices.
“New listings are comparable to prior years, but our starting point this year is so low that it doesn’t help us,” Gustafson said.
Despite the low inventory, sales numbers remained strong last month in Whatcom County, according to the NWMLS data. Whatcom County real estate agents sold 214 houses and condominiums last month, a 21% increase compared to a year ago before the COVID-19 pandemic. The median price for homes sold was $440,000, an 8.6% increase compared to February 2020.
Along with rising prices, homebuyers are also having to deal with rising mortgage interest rates, said Kena Greer Brashear, managing broker at The Muljat Group Realtors. A rise in interest rates will decrease purchasing power for buyers, making it more difficult to match the rising prices. She’s hoping that there will be an influx of homes that go on the market, which typically happens in the spring with sunnier days and rising temperatures.
The low inventory is not just a Whatcom County problem, according to the NWMLS data. Across the 26 counties the NWMLS tracks, active listings were down 43.9% year-over-year in February. The monthly supply last month for those 26 counties was less than 30 days, meaning the supply would be completely exhausted in less than a month if no new inventory came on the market.
A new report indicates Washington state currently has one of the hottest housing markets in the U.S., with home values rising 13.7% across the state last year.
