Cost of Tri-Cities homes surge but sales hanging on through coronavirus shutdown

Tri-City homes are costing more but sales are down less than 6 percent in April from the same time last year.

Home prices jumped by $6,000 from March to April to an average of $340,000, reported the Tri-City Association of Realtors.

The average price is an increase of $28,000 from January and $78,000 from just three years ago.

“The interest rates are good and the market seems to be doing pretty well,” said the association’s president, John Keltch of Windermere Group One.

Despite the coronavirus pandemic and a stay-home order being in effect in Washington, real estate activities were declared essential — allowing home sales to continue.

While certain activities such as open houses have been prohibited, in-person meetings have been allowed to privately view homes and to sign documents when it can’t be done remotely.

“No matter what, there are people who still need to buy a house or sell a house,” he said.

Pat Doherty, office manager of Cascade Title Company in Kennewick, told the Herald the company has largely been using mobile notaries to complete transactions.

The National Notary Association issued guidelines to follow during the coronavirus pandemic.

Keltch said the area remains tight with just 430 active listings in April with 329 being sold and 367 pending. That’s just 19 fewer homes than in April 2019.

It is a slight drop from 463 active listings in March, but a stark difference from eight years ago when buyers had 1,284 homes to choose from.

Residential home construction

He compared the past six weeks to 2019 when the Tri-Cities was blasted by a snowstorm.

Association records show 390 homes sold in March this year, compared with 297 the same month last year.

He said that the months prior to the stay-home order were solid months, as was last year before the storm, which allowed the closings to continue.

While a few sales may have been delayed because the buyers have been temporarily unemployed during the stay-home order, Keltch said it remains to be seen what May and June will bring.

Phase 2 of Gov. Jay Inslee’s plan to reopen Washington will include real estate. The state is currently under Phase 1 and no firms dates are set to move through the four-phase plan.

Low-risk construction was restarted after Inslee issued revised restrictions April 24. Residential construction was put on hold as part of the stay-home order.

In early April, the Tri-Cities Homebuilders Association joined other groups across the state in urging Inslee to reconsider the halt to residential housing.

Keltch said he has been asked how reopening the state will effect real state sales.

“We weren’t ever closed,” he said. “We were limited ... we just had to get into a new routine.”

This story was originally published May 11, 2020 at 3:01 PM.