Home values fluctuate year-over-year across Basin
JOEL MARTIN | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 7 months AGO
Home prices rose in December in three communities in the Columbia Basin, but dropped, sometimes drastically, in others.
COURTESY PHOTO/RDNE STOCK PROJECT/PEXELS
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. | February 5, 2026 2:55 PM
MOSES LAKE — Home prices were up in three Basin communities in December from a year earlier, according to real estate website Redfin.
Moses Lake’s median home price was just over $366,000 in December 2025, an increase of 8.7% from December 2024, according to Redfin. Ephrata’s median home price was $347,000, an increase of 3.6%, and Mattawa’s median was $348,000, up by 2.4%.
Elsewhere in the Basin, prices declined: 3.7% in Quincy and 13.5% in Othello. Soap Lake’s median home price dropped by 45.2% to $150,000, according to Redfin’s data.
Homes sold quickly in Mattawa in December, spending only 14 days on the market on average. In Othello, the average was 16 days and, in Soap Lake, homes sold in an average of 62 days. By contrast, Moses Lake homes lingered on the market for 89 days, in Quincy for 116 days and in Ephrata for 122 days.
Moses Lake homes sold above list price 25.6% of the time in December, according to Redfin, and 13.5% of homes dropped their price before selling. Data was not available for other Basin communities covered by the Columbia Basin Herald.
The 30-year fixed-rate average interest rate was 6.10% on Wednesday, up slightly from the beginning of the year but lower than any date since September 2024, according to Freddie Mac. A year ago, the average interest rate was 6.9%.
Statewide, the median home price in December 2025 was down slightly from December 2024, dropping 0.23% to about $611,000, according to Redfin. Homes stayed on the market an average of 50 days, up from 39 a year earlier. Washington homes overall sold above list price 22.6% of the time, and prices were dropped on 20.4% of the homes sold in December.
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.