COAST RIVER BUSINESS JOURNAL
OctOBER 2019 • 9
BUSINESS NEWS
Pacific County home sales up 11.5%, prices up 18.7%
coast River Business Journal
LONG BEACH — Pacific County saw
a seasonally adjusted 11.5% gain in home
sales and a 18.7% increase in median sales
price in the spring of 2019, according a
just-released analysis by the authoritative
Washington Center for Real Estate Research
at the University of Washington.
These strong local results came during a
quarter of the year when the hot real estate
elsewhere in the state had somewhat cooled.
Statewide home sales declined 6% com-
pared to a year earlier, while the median
sales price increased 10%.
Although the center’s deep dive into real
estate numbers takes several weeks to com-
pile after the end of each three-month period,
it is the most thorough available look at this
crucial set of assets.
Despite robust gains, Pacific County
remains the second most-affordable hous-
ing market in Western Washington and 10th
most affordable statewide. The median sell-
ing price of a Pacific County house was
$216,700 this spring, with only Grays Har-
bor being less on the west side at $211,400.
The median price statewide was $410,600.
Pacific County’s median home price has
more than doubled since 2012, when it was
$102,300. (Median means half the sales
were for more and half for less.)
Housing affordability continues to erode
in both the state and county. That index —
where 100 means a middle-income family
can just qualify for a median-priced home,
A townhouse project is filling a city block on Long Beach’s south beach approach.
given a 20 percent down payment and a
30-year fixed mortgage rate at prevailing
rates — was 98.4 statewide, down from
109.5 two years earlier. This suggests that,
given the same down payment and mort-
gage, a middle-income family could afford
a home selling just below the statewide
median price.
Second-quarter affordability in Pacific
County was based on these assumptions: A
median home price of $216,700, mortgage
rate of 4.07%, household income of $46,926,
Slight price moderation in Clatsop, houses selling faster
ASTORIA — Multiple Listing Service
data through August shows about a 6.8%
drop in the average selling price of Clatsop
County houses compared to the first eight
months of 2018.
However, the median price — the mid-
point at which half of houses sold for more
and half for less — was up about 2.6%
through this August compared to 2018,
reflecting a slight shift overall toward sales
of more expensive homes.
The average selling price as of August
was $389,175, while the median price was
$345,000. Hopeful sellers have been list-
ing their homes at just over $500,000, up
almost 4% compared to the same period a
year earlier.
Clatsop County homes have been sell-
ing at a brisker pace this year, with listings
spending an average of 120 days on the mar-
ket, down from 134 though August of 2018
— a change of about 10.5% fewer days.
The multi-list data showed no active list-
ing below $100,000 as of this August. Only
18 houses were listed below $200,000. The
largest price category in the county was
$500,000-plus, with 150 active listings in
August.
In the year to date through August, there
were eight sales below $100,000 — 38.5%
fewer than in 2018 — and 44 between
$100,000 and $200,000 — 26.7% fewer.
There were 137 sales between $200,000
and $300,000, down 16.5% from the same
months in 2018. There were 161 home sales
between $300,000 and $400,000, about a
9% increase from a year earlier. The 83 sales
in the $400,000 to $500,000 was unchanged
from 2018. In the $500,000-plus range, there
was a 14.2% decline.
monthly payment of $834 for experienced
homeowners and $822 for first-time buyers.
In Pacific County, this index was 118,
meaning at least in theory that a typical
middle-income family could afford to buy
a house 18 percent more than the median
home-selling price in the county. The lon-
ger-term trend for this index shows the
county is becoming less affordable. The
index was 127.3 one year earlier and 142
two years earlier.
Statewide in Washington, the first-time
buyer index decreased to 69.9. This index
assumes a less expensive home, lower down
payment and lower income. This means
that a household earning 70 percent of the
median household income — as may be true
of first-time buyers — had only 70 percent
of the income required to purchase a typical
starter home statewide.
In Pacific County, the first-time buyer
index was 83.8 this spring, compared to 90.5
a year earlier and 100.8 two years earlier.
As of June 30, 7.8% of Pacific County
homes were priced under $80,000, com-
pared to 1% statewide; 23.8% were priced
under $160,000, compared to 4.6% state-
wide; 51% were under $250,000, compared
to 12.6% statewide; and 87.4% were under
$500,000, compared to 52% statewide.
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