Listings up, mortgage rates steady, but buyers are still nervous
JOEL MARTIN | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 1 year, 3 months AGO
This home in Moses Lake’s Park Orchard neighborhood, was listed Wednesday on the real estate website Redfin.com at $340,000, the median price for a Grant County home in April.
JOEL MARTIN/COLUMBIA BASIN HERALD
Joel Martin has been with the Columbia Basin Herald for more than 25 years in a variety of roles and is the most-tenured employee in the building. Martin is a married father of eight and enjoys spending time with his children and his wife, Christina. He is passionate about the paper’s mission of informing the people of the Columbia Basin because he knows it is important to record the history of the communities the publication serves. | May 30, 2025 1:20 AM
MOSES LAKE — Listings are up in Washington, and interest rates are holding steady, according to the latest data from the Northwest Multiple Listing Service, which tracks real estate trends for 26 of Washington’s 39 counties.
The interest rate on a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage was 6.86% in May, only a tenth of a percentage point above March and about the same amount less than the 6.94% of a year ago, according to Freddie Mac. Rates peaked at 7.79 in October 2023 and have mostly fluctuated between 6% and 7% since then.
Median home prices remained steady as well, changing by less than a percentage point statewide as well as in the Basin. The median home price in Grant County was $340,000, the same as April 2024, and in Adams County the median price was $310,000, the lowest in the 26 counties NWMLS covered, compared to $331,500 in April 2024.
Active listings showed more activity in Washington, rising 47.4% in April 2025 over April 2024, according to the NWMLS data. Grant County active listings increased almost 60% in that same time period, but only 15% in Adams County.
That didn’t translate to more homes changing hands, however. Closed sales remained the same between April 2024 and April 2025 statewide, although Grant County closed sales increased 21% and went up 4% in Adams County.
The western part of Grant County, including Crescent Bar, Desert Aire and Sunland Estates, had the highest number of active listings in April, according to the NWMLS, and showed an increase year-over-year of 60.34%.
Nationwide, new listings rose 8.4% in May, according to a report from technology-based real estate brokerage Redfin. Pending sales dipped by 2.2%, however, suggesting that buyers aren’t going for what’s available. Fewer Americans are willing to invest in a home with an unpredictable economy and high interest rates, Redfin’s analysis said.
“As the number of sellers continues to outpace buyers, it is not surprising that price growth has slowed,” Steven Bourassa, director of the Washington Center for Real Estate Research, wrote in the NWMLS release.
“Recent media coverage identifies not only socioeconomic uncertainties such as tariffs and inflation, but also the willingness of both buyers and sellers to make concessions as potential factors in final sales prices in the last month,” the release continued.
ARTICLES BY JOEL MARTIN
Quincy National Night Out scales down
QUINCY — Quincy’s National Night Out was more compact this year, which worked out well, said QPD Sgt. Joe Westby, who’s in charge of event planning for the Quincy Police Department. “National Night Out is a big event, and the fact that we’re able to shrink it up is like a breath of fresh air,” Westby said. “If you're always doing the same thing, it's kind of nice to switch things up and see how it works.” National Night Out took place Thursday on the block of C Street next to the police station, a shift from previous years when it was held at Lauzier Park. The smaller space meant fewer emergency vehicles for children to explore, but it also meant less walking for attendees. Grant County Fire District 5 brought a fire truck, and the Grant County Sheriff’s Office had a patrol boat. Renew, the Grant County behavioral health agency, had a booth and so did Quincy Partnership for Youth. Veterans Operation Creation sang the national anthem, and the Quincy Animal Shelter brought kittens that piled over each other making friends with passersby. As before, the QPD served grilled hot dogs.
Quincy Police retirements leave big shoes to fill
QUINCY — There are some big shoes to fill at the Quincy Police Department. “We’re losing 48 years of experience between them,” Quincy Police Chief Ryan Green said at the retirement party for Capt. Jorge Trujillo and Det. Damon Powell Thursday. Trujillo, who grew up in Sunnyside, has been with QPD for 19 years, he said, coming on as a patrol officer fresh out of the military. From there he served as a field training officer, a detective and finally captain. “I consider him my left-hand man,” Green said. “He runs the operations side of the house … He knows the agency very well, and he knows the community.” Trujillo has some projects around the house to tackle now that he’s retired, he said.
Big fun on a small scale
Wheat Land Communities’ Fair opens Thursday
RITZVILLE — The Wheat Land Communities’ Fair isn’t as big or as flashy as some of the county fairs around central Washington, but the folks who keep it going like it just the way it is. “It’s somewhere you can go and get an old-time traditional feeling, and you’re comfortable letting your kids roam the grounds and experience all that it has to offer,” said Board Member Lori Williams. “It’s more of a feeling than (one) specific thing,” The fair starts Thursday in Ritzville and runs through Sunday. Starting Friday, the 56th Ritzville Rodeo will take place alongside the fair at the rodeo grounds. This year the entertainment budget was expanded, Williams said, to be able to offer more fun that’s covered by the cost of admission. For the kids, there’s face painting, balloon art, Lego crafts, races, contests and games. Children can also ride on a little train towed around the fairgrounds behind a tractor.