By Ken Stern 

Skagit home prices increasing, inventory low

 


Home sellers in La Conner and Skagit County continue to profit from high demand by buyers and limited inventory. In May, 191 new listings were posted countywide, an 8% decrease from April. The seven sales in the La Conner area went for a median price of $505,000, 17% more than in April, though the Northwest Multiple Listing Service, which supplies this data, does not cite locations, a key factor in selling price.

The median price was $701,275 for the 32 homes that sold in Anacortes last month. Sold home prices in Anacortes continue to rocket past the rest of the county. Median closed sales prices have increased by over $121,000, 21% since January.

The Skagit County median sold home price last month was above $500,000, with Mount Vernon’s $480,000 third for the 65 homes sold in May, 20% more homes than in April.

With eight new houses reported on the market in May, La Conner area inventory increased slightly. Countywide NMLS reports 23 days of inventory, down from April’s 27 days.

James Young, director of the Washington Center for Real Estate at the University of Washington, commented on the challenges facing first-time buyers. “Residential month’s supply (excluding condos) has continued to decline with less than two weeks of inventory in King, Snohomish, and Pierce counties, and slightly more than two weeks in the region. These are amazingly low levels of inventory,” he noted.

“Coupled with continued low interest rates and eased borrowing criteria, rapidly rising prices reflect huge supply imbalances. Given these imbalances, first-time buyers have had almost no chance to take advantage of low interest rates unless they leave the city. Unfortunately for them, continued supply constraints along the I-5 corridor mean they are increasingly being left out of the market for the whole region. Only a decrease in demand will moderate house price trends,” Young stated in the NMLS monthly update.

Industry veteran Mike Grady expects demand will remain strong.

“While we’re starting to hear some talk about increasing inflation given a lack of new construction and skilled labor and supply chain shortages, our market is counteracting that,” suggested Grady, the president and CEO at Coldwell Banker Bain in the same NMLS statement.

He believes three factors will continue to drive demand for the next six to 12 months: having the main bulk of the millennial generation finally entering their home buying years; the acceleration of retirement of boomers and their subsequent home downsize or relocation moves; and the relocation of people from all over the world to the Pacific Northwest as part of the work from home mindset due to the coronavirus lockdown.

 

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