Home prices up locally, down statewide
JOEL MARTIN | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 23 hours, 8 minutes AGO
This home in Moses Lake was listed at $225,000 Wednesday. Home prices dropped this year statewide but rose significantly in Grant and Adams counties.
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. | January 9, 2026 1:20 AM
KIRKLAND — The real estate market in December continued the pattern set in October and November, according to data released this week by the Northwest Multiple Listing Service, which tracks real estate trends in 27 of Washington’s 39 counties. Active listings were up across Washington compared to December 2024, while prices declined slightly.
Mortgage interest rates ended 2025 at their lowest rate for the year, according to Freddie Mac. The average 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 6.15%. The high point for 2025 was 7.04%, which was reached in January.
Active listings were 23% higher statewide than in December 2024, according to the NWMLS, but were 24% lower in December than in November 2025. In Grant County, active listings rose by 29.6% between December 2024 and December 2025, but dropped 6.27% from November 2025. Adams County active listings were up by 36.84% year-over-year, but down only 3.6% from November.
Closed sales were up by 4.1% in December 2025 statewide compared to 2024, according to NWMLS data. Grant County’s closed sales rose 10% in the same time period, while Adams County tripled, from four in December 2024 to 12 in December 2025.
Months of inventory, or the amount of time it would take to sell all the homes in a given market, were at 2.3 statewide in December 2025, compared to 2.0 in December 2024. Grant County showed 4.08 months of inventory, a 17.14% increase, while Adams County stood at 4.33 months, a 54.73% drop year-over-year.
Median home prices dropped statewide by about 2% year over year, but rose in the Basin. Grant County’s median home price was $372,495 in December 2025, an increase of 4.46% compared to a year earlier, while Adams County’s median was $379,230, increasing year-over-year by 29.74%.
“Although 30-year mortgage interest rates ended 2025 at their lowest point for the year (6.15%), buyers continued to face significant affordability constraints,” Steven Bourassa, Director of the Washington Center for Real Estate Research at the University of Washington, wrote in the NWMLS release.
ARTICLES BY JOEL MARTIN
‘Four Corners of the Year’
Moses Lake Museum exhibit shows the turning of the seasons
MOSES LAKE — The Moses Lake Museum & Art Center’s first exhibit of 2026 encompasses the entire calendar. “The title of the show is ‘The Four Corners of the Year,’” said Gallery Coordinator Veronica Talbot. “It goes through all four seasons. We wanted to start with winter, since that’s where we’re currently at, and then move our way down the year.” Pamela Petry-McKinsey’s exhibit, which opens Friday, is almost entirely done in acrylics. Her work harks back to the Impressionism of the 19th century, which emphasized feelings and spontaneity over realism, Museum Superintendent Dollie Boyd said. “I personally love the color in this show,” she said. “It’s really wonderful to have such exuberant color up on the walls in the middle of winter. … The love of nature really shines through her work.”
Home prices up locally, down statewide
KIRKLAND — The real estate market in December continued the pattern set in October and November, according to data released this week by the Northwest Multiple Listing Service, which tracks real estate trends in 27 of Washington’s 39 counties. Active listings were up across Washington compared to December 2024, while prices declined slightly.
BASIN EVENTS: Jan. 9-17, 2026
COLUMBIA BASIN — With the holidays safely in our rear-view mirror, the calendar in the Basin isn’t as crowded as it was a few months ago. Still, there are plenty of things to get out and enjoy for those who want to. Here are a few possibilities.