Housing supply continued to expand in April, with active listings rising 28.4% year over year and increasing more than 23% from March as the spring market gained momentum, the Northwest Multiple Listing Service said today in its monthly report of housing activity across its 27-county service area.
While inventory expanded, market activity remained mixed. Closed sales for single-family homes and condominiums combined were down 3.6% year over year, even as showings and key box accesses increased from March 2026 and April 2025, NWMLS said. The systemwide median sales price remained unchanged from a year ago at $650,000, reflecting a market with more choices for buyers but continued affordability constraints.
The median combined sales price in Pierce County last month was $580,000, up 4.5% from April 2025. In Thurston County, the combined median was $543,500, up 1.2%, NWMLS data showed.
For single-family homes only, Pierce County’s median was $597,850, up 5.8%. In Thurston County, the median was $548,500, a gain of 1.6%.
Elsewhere in the region, median sales prices for single-family homes and the change from one year ago were: Kitsap County, $599,970, up 2.6%; Mason County, $415,000, down 2.4%; Grays Harbor County, $345,000, down 6.5%; Lewis County, $460,490, up 12.3%; and Jefferson County, $589,000, down 9.3%.
Mortgage rates remained elevated in April, with average rates slightly higher than in March, and the Federal Reserve held short-term rates steady, citing ongoing inflation pressures, including rising energy costs, NWMLS said in its report. The report added that ongoing global uncertainty, including the war in Iran, continued to put upward pressure on interest rates and weigh on housing demand.
Steven Bourassa, director of the Washington Center for Real Estate Research at the University of Washington, said in a statement, “We are continuing to see relatively weak demand in the NWMLS market area (as elsewhere in the U.S.), with listings substantially higher than a year earlier, transactions down almost 4%, and median prices unchanged. At the moment, it is difficult to see any improvement on the horizon with the Iran war stuck in a stalemate.”
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