Housing inventory up, sales down in Washington
JOEL MARTIN | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 1 month, 2 weeks AGO
This Moses Lake home was listed at $275,000 Wednesday, well below Grant County’s median home price of $370,000.
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. | June 12, 2026 2:05 AM
MOSES LAKE — Housing inventory continued to increase in Washington state in May, according to data released by the Northwest Multiple Listing Service, which tracks real estate trends in 27 Washington counties.
Active listings in May 2026 were up 16.8% compared to May 2025, and up 15.2% compared to April 2026, according to the NWMLS data. In Grant County, active listings were up 12.13% over May 2025 and 13.64% over April 2026. In Adams County, active listings dropped 7.27% year-over-year, and remained steady from a month ago.
Closed sales were up 9.5% statewide from April but down 3.9% from May 2025. In Grant County closed sales were down 11.11% year-over-year and 3.6% month-over-month. Adams County closed sales dropped 25% between May 2025 and May 2026, and up 28.57% from April 2026.
The median home price in Washington was $650,000 in May 2026, a change of less than a percentage point from May 2025, according to the NWMLS data. In Grant County, the median home price was $370,000, a decrease of 3.85% from May 2025 but up slightly from April. In Adams County, the median home price in May 2026 was $309,000, a decrease of 11.71% year-over-year but up 6.55% from a month ago.
The average 30-year fixed-mortgage interest rate was 6.48% Wednesday, down from 6.53% a week ago and 6.85% a year ago. Steven Bourassa, director of the Washington Center for Real Estate Research at the University of Washington, blamed the higher rate on the war with Iran and the sharp inflation in energy costs resulting from it.
“Following the general pattern we have seen in recent months, the number of listings continued to grow relative to the same month a year earlier, while sales transactions and prices were both down (or flat) due to the affordability constraint imposed by high interest rates,” Bourassa wrote. “Without any clear resolution to this crisis on the horizon, it is difficult to predict when interest rates will resume the downward trajectory that they displayed prior to the start of the war at the end of February.”
ARTICLES BY JOEL MARTIN
Growing fast
Gray Girl Farms nursery springs up near Royal City
ROYAL CITY — It’s one thing to grow and sell flowers. Owning a complete nursery is something else altogether, especially when you have only months to build it. “The learning curve has been really steep,” said Kylie Gray-Eilers. “I just always tell myself that every day is a new day.” Gray-Eilers isn’t a stranger to raising plants; her Gray Girl Farms has sold dahlias for almost eight years, and she holds a Dahlia Days festival every year in October. The dahlia operation was beginning to reach the point where she needed either to scale it back or grow, she said. So when she learned that Robin Prchal, owner of Emerald Desert Nursery in Quincy, was fixing to retire, Gray-Eilers decided it was time to expand.
Looking good
Institute of Beauty Professionals trains barbers, nail techs and more
MOSES LAKE — It takes a lot of training to make people look their best. “(A license to do) nails is 600 hours (of instruction),” said Institute of Beauty Professionals owner and instructor Nicholas Harle. “Cosmetology is 1,640 hours, barbering is 1,000, hair design is 1,440 and aesthetics is 750.” IBP takes its own private students and also serves the Columbia Basin Technical Skills Center’s cosmetology program, Harle said. Those students spend 2 1/2 hours a day at IBP and earn credits in lab science, technical science, first aid and fine arts, he said. There were 61 CBTECH students at IBP last year, he said, and there are about 25 full-time students.
BASIN EVENTS: July 24-Aug. 1
COLUMBIA BASIN — It’s hot and smoky outside? This is the Columbia Basin. We’re used to this. Here are some chances to get out and have some fun no matter what the sky looks like. July 25 Christmas in July at the Market Who says you have to wait until December for holiday cheer? Stroll through decorated vendor booths, shop amazing local makers and growers, enjoy holiday-themed fun, festive music, sweet treats, and surprises for the whole family. Wear your favorite Christmas shirt, Santa hat, or holiday outfit. 8 a.m.-1 p.m. at Moses Lake Farmers Market, McCosh Park, 401 W. Fourth Avenue. Info: www.farmersmarketml.com.