Basin home prices steady; closing costs drop in WA
JOEL MARTIN | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 3 months, 2 weeks AGO
This four-bedroom, three-bath waterfront home in Moses Lake was listed at $799,000 Wednesday, more than twice the median home price.
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. | July 3, 2026 3:00 AM
MOSES LAKE — Basin home prices have stayed fairly steady in the larger communities this year, varying by 5-9 percent, according to data from the real estate site Redfin.
Moses Lake’s home prices averaged $369,769 from March to the end of May 2026, an increase of 8.8 percent over the same period in 2025, according to Redfin’s data. Ephrata’s median was $340,796, a decrease of 8.6 percent from last year, and Quincy averaged $384,770, down 5 percent from a year ago. Othello’s median was $339,747, a drop of 5.6 percent. Warden prices were up 25.3 percent to $395,000. Mattawa homes sold for an average of $355,000, a drop of 14.5 percent, and Royal City’s median was up 18.3 percent to $358,000.
Homes sold fastest in Royal City, staying on the market an average of only three days, according to the Redfin data. In contrast, Moses Lake homes waited an average of 71 days to sell. Homes in both Ephrata and Quincy averaged 61 days on the market, and Othello homes took an average of 150 days to sell. Warden’s days on the market averaged 45; Mattawa’s averaged 41.
The median home price across Washington state was $603,870 Wednesday, a decrease of 0.6 percent from a year ago, according to the real estate site Zillow.
The average 30-year fixed mortgage rate was 6.49 percent Wednesday, according to Freddie Mac. Interest rates have held fairly steady the last few weeks, ranging from 6.53 percent May 28 – the highest they’ve gone this year – to 6.47 percent June 18. A year ago at this time, the average 30-year mortgage rate was 6.77 percent.
The average closing cost on a home sale dropped by 2.9 percent nationwide between 2024 and 2025, the last year for which data was available, according to a report released Wednesday by Lodestar Software. Twenty-eight states and the District of Columbia reported a decrease in closing costs, while 23 states recorded increases. Washington state was in the decrease category, dropping 12.2 percent over that year.
Ninety percent of Washington’s recording fee went to non-recording purposes, the Lodestar report said, including homelessness assistance funds and other state programs.
“The connection between closing costs and housing affordability is often overshadowed by other components to the equation, like interest rates and down payments,” Ron Carvalho, director of data operations at LodeStar, wrote in the report. “However, our data shows that decisions made at the state level on recording taxes and document fees have a direct impact on borrowers’ total financial ability to purchase or refinance their home. Knowing what’s happening with these costs helps lenders provide accurate guidance to their borrowers in their homeownership journey.”
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.”