High interest rates slow home sales

MOSES LAKE — Housing inventory reached a 12-year high in September in Washington, according to data from the Northwest Multiple Listing Service, which tracks real estate trends in 27 of Washington’s 39 counties.

There were 24,955 listings in the NWMLS service area, the most for any month since September 2014, and a 24.5% increase from September 2025. In Grant County, the jump from a year ago wasn’t as sharp, only 12.18% over last year, and Adams County barely shifted, from 53 a year ago to 55 in September 2026. (For NWMLS statistical purposes, the Othello area is grouped with Grant County; Adams County figures are exclusive of Othello.)

At the same time, closed sales dropped by 8.98% statewide, the lowest point since at least 2014, according to the NWMLS data, and months of inventory – the number of months it would take to sell all listed homes – reached 4.44, the highest since February 2014. Compared to September 2025, closed sales were down 8.87% statewide and months of inventory were up 33% from 3.3.

Much of the change was due to rising inventory in the Puget Sound area, according to the NWMLS release, with 57% of all active listings in King, Pierce and Snohomish counties.

Grant County closed sales were down 26.09% from September 2025, with 7.85 months of inventory. Months of inventory were especially high in Othello, with existing inventory taking 29 months to sell out. In the rest of Adams County, closed sales were down by nearly half, with 6.88 months of inventory.

Statewide, the median home price was $625,000 in September 2026, down 0.8% from $630,000 in September 2025. In Grant County, the median home price was  $376,507 in September 2026, up from $354,450 a year earlier. Median home prices dropped in Adams County, from $340,000 a year ago to $307,500 in September 2026.

The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 7.40% on Oct. 15, according to Freddie Mac, unchanged from a week earlier but up from 6.27% a year ago. The rise in interest rates was a significant factor in the slower sales, according to Steven Bourassa, director of the Washington Center for Real Estate Research.

“Recent months have demonstrated what economists call ‘downward stickiness’ in home prices,” Bourassa wrote in the NWMLS release. “Prices tend to rise quickly in a strong market but can be slower to fall when conditions weaken, in part because sellers may have the flexibility to wait rather than accept a lower price. Meanwhile, inventory continues to grow and sales have slowed, while higher mortgage rates are adding to affordability challenges for buyers.”