Home sales up as summer moving season begins
JOEL MARTIN | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 3 months AGO
A home for sale in Moses Lake. The median price of a home in Grant County was $372,780 in June, according to the Northwest Multiple Listing Service.
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 17, 2026 3:00 AM
MOSES LAKE — More homes hit the market in June as summer home sales gained momentum, according to data released by the Northwest Multiple Listing Service, which tracks real estate trends in 27 of Washington’s 39 counties.
Active listings increased 16.4% statewide in June 2026 compared to June 2025, according to the NWMLS data and 8% compared to May 2026. Grant County listings followed a similar pattern, increasing 14.56% year-over-year and 9.18% over May 2026. Active listings were down 15.87% in Adams County from June 2025, but up 3.92% from a month earlier.
Closed sales in Grant County were up 7.53% year-over-year, according to the NWMLS data, and 25% from May, reflecting the usual seasonal bump in home sales as schools let out and families consider moving. In Adams County, closed sales dropped to four sales in June 2026 compared to 12 in June 2025 and nine in May 2026. Statewide, closed sales were up 2.3% from June 2025 and 10.2% from a month earlier.
Adams County’s median home price was the lowest in Washington, according to the NWMLS data, at $226,000 in June 2026, a 29.38% drop from June 2025 and 26.26% from May. The median home price in Grant County was $372,780 in June 2026, up 2.41% from June 2025 and 0.75% from May. The statewide median home price was $650,000, unchanged from May 2026 but down 3% from a year earlier.
The average 30-year fixed-mortgage interest rate was 6.49% on Wednesday, down from 6.43% a week ago and 6.72% a year ago, according to Freddie Mac.
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.”