Basin housing market stabilizing
JOEL MARTIN | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 12 months AGO
A neighborhood under construction in Quincy. The housing market, which was tight and competitive a few years ago, seems to have shifted back to normalcy.
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. | October 17, 2025 3:00 AM
MOSES LAKE — Just a few years ago, homes for sale in the Basin were few and far between. Today, things seem to have moved more or less back to normal.
“I would say that it's a changed market from what we became accustomed to during the hot market times when homes were selling in a week or sometimes less with multiple offers,” said Tom Parrish, branch manager at Windermere Real Estate in Quincy. “(It was) very favorable to sellers. (Now it’s) shifted to a more of a neutral market, which means that it doesn't necessarily favor one or the other, although it is probably trending towards favoring the buyer side.”
Economic uncertainty and the rise in interest rates have meant that the hot market isn’t coming back any time soon, Parrish said. The buyers are there, he said, but they’re not desperate.
“There's kind of like a dam,” he said. “That dam (is) the uncertainty, the interest rates, all the above … It has slowed the market down. It's causing sellers to have a change of mindset. Prices were going up at an exuberant rate like we’d never seen before, and then it kind of stalled out, and now we're seeing some price reductions.”
Grant County has a fairly diverse housing landscape, with a wide range of availability and affordability. In September, the median home price in Moses Lake was $234 per square foot and in Ephrata $203 per square foot, while in Coulee City, it was only $150.
Those homes appeal to different sets of buyers, said Johnny Reyes, with Windermere Real Estate in Ephrata.
“Those towns that are a little bit further out, it's more people who are wanting to retire and relax and get away from the noise of the city,” he said. “Or (they’re) looking for fishing, hiking and stuff like that draws them … If you have to drive 15, 20 minutes to Moses Lake or Ephrata, it's not that big of a sacrifice in exchange for the peace and quiet that they're looking for in small towns.”
The important thing, Reyes said, isto talk to a Realtor and find out what the options are.
“The homes are there,” he said. “We have lots of homes and with the market having gone a little bit a little bit slow for part of the summer, now's a good chance for buyers to get in on a good opportunity and present a good, competitive offer.”
ARTICLES BY JOEL MARTIN
Endless battle
Noxious Weed Control Board works to keep invasive plants under control
MOSES LAKE — Some of the nastiest plants in Grant County were the topic of a class led by Jay Johnson, a consultant with the Grant County Noxious Weed Control Board, Tuesday. The Noxious Weed Control Board, as its name would suggest, is tasked with keeping weeds under control in Grant County. That’s not a small job; the board’s website lists 129 species of noxious weeds that are found around Grant County. A noxious weed is defined as an invasive, non-native plant that threatens agricultural crops, local ecosystems or fish and wildlife habitat, according to the Noxious Weed Control Board. Washington state law requires that these weeds be identified and their spread kept to a minimum, if not completely eradicated. “We’re one of those agencies a lot of people don’t really understand,” Johnson said. “We’re a county office and … our funding is tax-based assessment. When you get your tax bill and you look down at all the expenses that you pay for, there we are.”
BASIN EVENTS: Oct. 16-24
COLUMBIA BASIN — Whether you feel like shopping, crafting, learning or seeing a show, there’s something happening for you this week in the Basin. Oct. 16 ‘My Family (Mi Familia)’ screening Spanning three generations, “My Family (Mi Familia)” is a heartfelt drama that follows the Sánchez family as they build their lives in East Los Angeles. Through love, hardship, triumph, and sacrifice, the film explores the immigrant experience, the strength of family bonds, and the traditions that connect one generation to the next. Lowrider show and taco truck before the screening. Sponsored by Columbia Basin Allied Arts, EDUBS C/S and the Moses Lake Creative District. $12 per person. Doors open at 6 p.m., film begins at 7 p.m. at the Moses Lake Civic Center Auditorium, 401 S. Balsam St. Tickets and info: www.cba-arts.org.
Moses Lake author encourages women to look beyond church culture norms
MOSES LAKE — A Moses Lake author’s book, “A Christian Woman Striving to Live Her Faith in a Man-Controlled World,” takes aim at the role to which many churches relegate the female half of their congregations. “It’s to encourage women in the faith,” Linda Curran said. “A lot of churches say, ‘Teach Sunday school, do this, do that, but don’t (evangelize.)’" In her book, Curran recounts a time when she moved to a new community and joined a church there. She was surprised to learn that, as a new female member, she had been automatically assigned church cleaning duties. When she questioned it, she wrote, she was met with condescension and her objections were brushed aside. In other churches, she said, women who were capable of teaching were relegated to “women’s ministry.”