Homes are selling briskly on the Harbor
If home purchases are any indication – and we think they are – people are continuing to discover what a great place Grays Harbor is to live. The residential real estate stats for the month of May – the latest stats available – show that in nine of the last 15 months Grays Harbor is a seller’s market.
“This seems to be caused by a continued influx of buyers from out of the county; attracted by our temperate climate as well as our home prices and lifestyle values,” said Tom Quigg.
Quigg, who founded the Aberdeen and Ocean Shores Windermere Real Estate offices in 1991 and 1992, respectively, examines the county’s real estate market each month, based on data provided by the Northwest Multiple Listing Service (NWMLS).
“For the first five months of 2019 the North Beach region has experienced a significant increase of homes on the market. For the same time period, the City of Ocean Shores has reported 83 building permit applications for stick-built homes,” Quigg said, adding that for all of 2018 only 150 such permit applications were issued, indicating a healthy growth of new homes this year.
“The increase in new and used homes on the market is keeping real estate brokers very busy,” he said.
When was the last time you took a drive to Seabrook? The building boom there is definitely continuing, but interestingly it’s not just Seabrook on the North Beach that is booming, but the area as a whole, Quigg said.
In addition, the demand for homes in the Aberdeen/Hoquiam market continues at a robust pace. In fact, the Aberdeen/ Hoquiam area has been considered a seller’s market for 14 of the past 15 months! As a result, median and average prices have increased by 14 and 10.3 percent, respectively, from what they were in May of 2018.
However, the biggest demand for homes is by far East County. In this region, which includes Montesano, Elma and McCleary, inventory has been holding to between 1.3 and 1.7 months for the past six months. That means buyers are snapping up the homes almost as quickly as they go on the market!
In addition, home prices in the East County area from March through May of 2019 are up significantly from the same period in 2018. There’s an 11 percent increase for the median price and 12.5 percent increase for the average price.
Quigg notes that the biggest change in the county, however, has been on the South Beaches – the Westport/Grayland/Ocosta market.
“Low inventory, coupled with the stronger demand has caused a continued upward trend in median and average prices. Months of inventory is now at 2.4 months, which is the strongest seller’s market that region has seen in the past year,” Quigg said.
Are you interested in some more stats? According to the Northwest Multiple Listing Service (NMLS), here are the median and average prices of home sales in Grays Harbor in May 2019. (You may recall that the median price is found by lining up all the prices and finding the middle one, while the average price is determined by adding up the total of all houses sold and dividing by the number sold.
In Grays Harbor County, the median price for a home was $211,000 and the average price was $224,000. In the Aberdeen and Hoquiam area the median price was $155,000, with the average price at $172,000. In the Ocean Shores/North Beach area the median price was $230,000 with the average price at $240,000. In the East County area, including Montesano, Elma and McCleary, the median price was $262,000, and the average price $263,000. And, in the Westport/Grayland area the median price was $188,000, with the average price at $226,000.
Remember, these stats are for May 2019; June’s numbers should be out soon. Keep in mind that median/average prices in one month can vary greatly from month to month. However, overall this healthy real estate market is very encouraging for our community!
CONTEMPLATING BUYING A HOUSE SOON?
Are you considering buying a house? Remember, we at NeighborWorks of Grays Harbor, are here to help you become a successful home owner. We can help you establish good credit, find financing and even show you how to pre-qualify for a loan. Give us a call at (360) 533-7828 Monday through Thursday, or e-mail our counselor at jgalligan@aberdeen-nhs.com
In addition, check out our website at www.nwghc.org. We’d also love to communicate with you through Facebook – NeighborWorks Grays Harbor. We’d love to have you follow us!
