Spokane County’s housing market shows signs of cooling down in August as sales drop, inventory rises

Spokane County’s red-hot housing market is showing signs of a fall cooldown as the median price in August dropped to $389,728 from a record-breaking $395,000 in July.

Some 734 single-family homes and condos on less than 1 acre sold in August, a 1.7% sales decrease compared to 747 homes in August 2020, according to data from the Spokane Association of Realtors.

Spokane County had 479 homes available on the market in August, representing a 19-day supply of inventory. That means it would take nearly three weeks to sell all the available homes. By comparison, the county had inventory of 534 properties on the market in August 2020.

“We would like to see that continue to move in the right direction, so the buyer has more options to look at as far as property,” said Rob Higgins, executive officer for the Spokane Association of Realtors.

The county had 374 homes available on the market in July.

A slight decline in sales and increase in available properties is a seasonal housing market pattern that typically occurs in the fall, Higgins said.

The fall season will bring a window of opportunity to potential homebuyers before the market picks up again at the beginning of next year, according to a John L. Scott Real Estate August housing report.

“Approximately two months of good selection and availability of new listings remain in the local market before the winter market arrives,” J. Lennox Scott, chairman and CEO of John L. Scott Real Estate, said in a statement.

“As we start heading toward the first of the year, the housing market intensity for each new listing will start tightening back up again in Spokane,” Scott continued.

The market is “virtually” sold out of homes priced below $750,000 with 77% of sales activity occurring for homes under $500,0000, according to the report.

The county’s median home price of $389,728 in August was a 22.9% increase compared to the $317,000 median in August 2020, according to data from the Spokane Association of Realtors.

The median existing home price for all housing types nationwide in July was $359,900, up 17.8% from $305,6000 in July 2020, as each region saw prices climb. This marks 113 straight months of year-over-year gains. August data was not yet available.

New home listings in Spokane County rose to 916 last month, compared with 896 new listings in August 2020.

“We are trending in the right direction as far as new listings and inventory,” Higgins said. “In the first half of this year, supply was not adequate and that’s what drove prices up.

“Once we get a better balance on supply and demand, we’ll see things calm down a little bit,” he added.