Whatcom County house prices set this record as demand outpaces inventory
Whatcom County’s home prices continue to hit dizzying new heights as strong demand and low inventory continue to rule the market.
The median price for Whatcom County homes sold this spring was $540,460, a whopping 27.2% increase compared to the second quarter of 2020, according to a new report from Troy Muljat of Muljat Group Realtors. Muljat put together his report based on data from the Northwest Multiple Listing Service.
The rise was even more dramatic in Bellingham, where the median price of homes sold rose 28.3% to $625,000. All of the major communities surveyed except for Ferndale and Mount Baker experienced more than 20% year-over-year median price increases.
That boost now puts the average price per square foot in Whatcom County at $309.72, the first time it’s ever topped $300. Muljat also noted that the average home sale was 4% higher than the list price, an indication that most homes were receiving multiple offers.
The only real glimmer of good news for buyers in Muljat’s report is that the ultra-low inventory is slowly starting to increase, which might start to slow down this stretch of home price increases.
On Friday, July 2, Muljat said there were 357 homes for sale across Whatcom County, which is up about 100 from a month ago. A more normal housing market would have around 1,000 homes available across Whatcom County, however. He doesn’t anticipate getting back to that level anytime soon, but sales typically drop off in the late summer as buyers and sellers do other things like take vacations. That could be especially true this year with the U.S. lifting pandemic travel restrictions.
“I’m seeing a lot of buyer fatigue setting in, but at least there should be a few more homes to look at,” Muljat said.
The rising home price trend continues what’s been a worsening problem of home affordability. A new report from the website Attom estimates that Whatcom’s housing affordability index was 84 in the second quarter. Anything under 100 indicates homes are less affordable than the area’s historic average. The report noted that while wage growth has increased 7.6% in the past year, the median home price growth in Whatcom County was 26.9%.
Despite all the construction of new apartments in Bellingham, rental rates in those buildings also continue to rise. In a new report from Zumper, the average monthly rent for a one-bedroom apartment in Bellingham last month was $1,210, a 6.1% increase from a year ago. The average monthly rent for a two-bedroom apartment was $1,430, a 2.9% increase year-over-year. Bellingham rents were actually the lowest among the 12 Western Washington cities that Zumper surveyed, which includes Everett, Seattle, Tacoma and Olympia.
This story was originally published July 2, 2021 at 1:11 PM.
