Photo Copyright Christina Kennell

November home sales in the Walla Walla Valley brought the annual total to within 15 sales of the record of 759 sales reached in 2005. With one month left to report, Walla Walla is certain to pass that milestone and become the most active year yet for real estate.

At the current rate of sales, Walla Walla has approximately 3 months of inventory. The market continued to tip in seller’s favor, but low interest rates have continued to keep buyers active. This year, the median sales price has increased 13% over the previous year.

What will the new year bring? We’ll attempt to answer that next month when we bring you our 2016 year end numbers and provide our 2017 real estate forecast. In the mean time, we wish you the happiest of holiday seasons. Cheers!

November’s Listings: 314*

The number of homes listed for sale declined 10% from the previous month and 8% from the number of homes listed for sale in November of last year.

November’s Sales: 55*

The month’s sales declined 5% from the previous month but were 41% more than the number of sales that occurred November of last year.

November’s Median Price: $219,300*

November’s median price increased 2% from the previous month and was 15% higher than the same month’s median price of a year ago.

Click here for November’s Charts.

*WWMLS WA data

Low interest rates and slightly higher inventory levels are keeping buyers active in the Walla Walla Valley this fall. Through October, closed sales remained 11% ahead of last year’s pace and pending sales increased by 6%.

The number of homes listed for sale in October increased by 1.5% over the previous month. At the current rate of sales there are approximately 3.24 months of inventory in the valley. Walla Walla’s median sales price remained 13% ahead of last year. While the market remained a seller’s market, Walla Walla continued to have more inventory then most communities in Washington State.

Overall, Walla Walla is having a great year for Real Estate. Thus far, the Walla Walla Valley is on track to experience the most active real estate market in 10 years.

October’s Listings: 348

The number of homes listed for sale grew 1.5% over the previous month and 2% over the number of homes listed for sale 12 months ago.

October’s Closings: 58

Monthly closings declined 39% from the previous month but remained 31% higher than October’s closings for the previous year.

October’s Median Price: $214,496

The median price declined from the previous month but equaled the current year’s median price.

Click here for October’s charts.

*WWMLS WA Data

June marked the busiest closing month of the year.  At the halfway point of 2016, Walla Walla’s home sales remained 5% ahead of last year's pace.  June's closing activity led to declines in pending sales and listing inventory.

Pending sales – homes under contract but not yet closed – declined by 16% in June and after four consecutive monthly gains, the number of homes listed for sale declined by 3%.  Yet Walla Walla’s inventory remained in the 3 month range.  While this level of inventory was low for Walla Walla, it remained above the inventory levels found in most communities in our state.

Through the first half of the year, Walla Walla’s median price was 9% above last year, but low interest rates have kept homes reasonably affordable.  As we’ve reported, what happens to our local market through the rest of they year will be impacted by our listing supply and interest rates.

June’s Listings: 373*

June’s listing supply declined 3% from the previous month and remained 5% lower than June of last year.

June’s Closed Sales: 85*

June’s closings swelled 39% over the previous month and beat out June of last year by 2%

June’s Median Price: $230,000*

June’s median price was the highest of the year.  More homes closed above $400,000 than any previous month this year.

Click here for June 2016 Charts

*WWMLS WA Data

Photograph courtesy of Christina Kennell Photography

New contract activity and listing inventory grew in May.  Pending sales – homes under contract, but not yet closed – increased by 22% over the previous month.  The number of closed home sales held steady with the previous month, but declined from the number of closings that occurred in May of 2015.  Still, year-to-date sales are ahead of last year's pace by 5%.

The number of homes listed for sale in May grew by 7% over the previous month. The trend of year-over-year listing declines also continued, but the gap narrowed to just 2% fewer.  While the number of listings in Walla Walla are lower than previous years, we are still not experiencing the extreme lows of many metropolitan areas, including many neighborhoods on the west side of our state.  Therefore, price gains are more modest in Walla Walla.  For the year, our median price is 6.6% higher than the previous year.

While some buyers may wish they had more inventory to chose from, favorable interest rates and modest inventories have kept them active through the first five months of 2016.

May's Listings: 386

May's listings increased by 7% over the previous month.  Approximately one third of the total active listings are under contract.

May's Closed Sales: 61

May's home sales held steady with the previous month.

May's Median Price:  $213,000

May's median price increased from the previous month.  For the year, Walla Walla's median price is $202,664.

*WWMLS WA Data

Click here for May 2016 Charts

Photography courtesy of Christina Kennell Photography.

April home sales rose 7% higher than April’s sales in 2015.  Walla Walla’s annual home sales continued to outpace last year by 15%.  New contract activity continued to increase as well.  Pending sales – homes under contract not yet closed – grew by 27% during the month of April.

Seller’s looking to capitalize on the active market listed more homes in April.  Monthly listing inventory grew 10% over the previous month.  However, April’s total listings were still 9% less than a year ago.  Approximately one third of Walla Walla's active listings are under contract.

The month's median price declined, yet Walla Walla’s annual median price was up 5% from 2015’s median price.  This was a modest increase when compared to many parts of the country that continued to experience inventory levels well below Walla Walla’s.

As we have mentioned previously, what happens the rest of the year depends largely on inventory levels and interest rates.  So far, so good…our inventory has experienced 3 consecutive monthly gains and interest rates have remained low.

April's Listings: 359*

The trend of year-over-year listing declines continued.  April had 35 fewer homes listed for sale than were available in April of 2015.

April's Closed Sales: 62*

April experienced a slight monthly decline in home sales, but brought the yearly total to 230 sales compared to just 200 homes sales during the same period of last year.

April's Median Price: $182,868*

April’s median price dropped from the previous month as more homes in the lower price ranges closed.

February’s homes sales slowed a bit from January’s hot pace, but through the first two months of the year, Walla Walla’s closed sales were still 11% ahead of last year.  Buyers remained very active writing new contracts.  Pending sales – homes under contract, but not yet closed – grew by 31% over the previous month.

After 4 consecutive monthly listing declines, the number of homes listed for sale in February grew by 10% over the previous month.  However, the trend of year-over-year declines in the number of listings continued.  

With more sales and less inventory then a year ago, median prices moved up 4% over February of last year.  What happens to prices going forward will depend on how low our listing inventory gets.  However, we expect our listing inventory to grow as we move into spring, which is typically the busiest listing time of the year.

February’s Listings: 322*

Listings gained 10% over the previous month, but remained 3% below February of last year.  At February’s rate of sales, Walla Walla’s monthly inventory increased to just over 4 months.

February’s Home Sales: 40*

February’s sales declined by 20% from the previous month, but still brought Walla Walla’s year-to-date total sales to 90, an 11% annual gain over the same period a year ago.

February’s Median Sales Price: $196,450*

February’s Median Sales Price declined 3% from the previous month, but was 4% higher than February of last year.

Click here for February 2016 Charts

*WWMLS WA Data

Photo provided by Christina Kennell Photography

January’s 50 home sales set a new high for the first month of a year in the Walla Walla Valley.  Typically, the month of January averages around 35 home sales, but this year closings increased 56% over last January.  Buyers were likely spurred on by the prospect of higher interest rates.  All this activity favored sellers yet listing inventory remained low.  At month’s end, the number of listings dropped below 300 for the first time in 10 years.  At the current pace of sales, there were 3.9 months of inventory.  Yet Walla Walla has not experienced the extreme inventory lows faced by the west side of our state.  As we move into spring, we anticipate listings to increase as sellers look to take advantage of what is already an active market.

January Listings: 292*

The last time the total number of listings dropped below 300 was December of 2006.

January Home Sales: 50*

This was the most active January on record for home sales.

January Median Price: $202,750*

January’s median price increased 6.6% over last years median price.  What happens to prices throughout the rest of the year will depend largely on listing inventory which should increase during the months ahead.

Click here for January 2016 Charts

*WWMLS WA Data

Photo provided by Christina Kennell Photography