Where are the new listings? Low inventory continues to strain Whatcom real estate market
Heading into the prime home-buying season, Whatcom County sellers still have all the leverage.
The latest data from the Northwest Multiple Listing Service shows plenty of demand in Whatcom County, very little supply and buyers willing to go way over listing price to close a deal.
The number of single-family houses and condominiums sold in April totaled 305, up from 219 compared to a year earlier. The median price for those homes sold hit $499,900, a 19% increase compared to April 2020.
Inventory numbers showed no signs of improving, either. The total number of active listings at the end of April in Whatcom County was just 263, down from 621 in April 2020. The amount of housing inventory is below one month, meaning that if no new listings come on the market it would take less that 30 days to exhaust the existing supply.
These conditions have led to sellers being in the driver’s seat, expecting their original listing price to be topped. According to Braden Gustafson of Gustafson & Associates, three out of four Bellingham houses are selling above the list price, with 30% selling more than $50,000 above the listing price.
Gustafson said he expects that bidding above listing price trend to slow down. The buyers aren’t going away, he said, but this area is exiting out of the busiest part of the year and listing agents will update their expectations. This should lead to fewer homes being bid above the original listing.
Gustafson said he doesn’t expect a lot of new inventory heading into summer, but he is curious about whether more people who held off putting their home on the market during the pandemic might do so as conditions improve.
“Our numbers show that a large group of people didn’t sell in 2020 because of (COVID-19). Maybe some of them will decide to sell this summer,” Gustafson said.
Rent in Bellingham also is on the rise, according to a separate report. The Zumper rent report for April looked at the median price of apartments for rent in the Bellingham area. A one-bedroom unit had a median monthly price of $1,280, up 4.9% from the previous month and 13.3% compared to a year ago.
Several new apartment projects were recently completed, and higher-priced new units could be influencing the median price for those units. Builders have had to deal with rising costs in materials in recent months, particularly wood.
According to a recent article on the website Visual Capitalist, the price of lumber has increased 377% in one year. Lumber that had been around $200-$400 per 1,000 board feet is now at $1,635, according to the article.
Two-bedroom units in Bellingham rose at a much slower pace, going up 0.7% from the previous month and 3.6% compared to a year ago, according to the Zumper report.
For Western Washington, there’s been a trend of pricier cities, such as Bellevue and Seattle, seeing year-over-year declines while less expensive areas like Bellingham are seeing increases, said Crystal Chen, senior public relations manager at Zumper.
“Looking ahead, I expect to see rents in bigger city hubs like Seattle begin to grow again as the vaccine rollout continues and life heads closer to what it was like pre-pandemic and renters itch for city life again,” Chen said. “For Bellingham specifically, with new apartment stock hitting the market, rents will likely stay higher especially as we head into the hot moving season of summer and fall.”
