The Gig Harbor Scoop🍦: Breaking Down July's Market Numbers

With temperatures climbing into the 90s this week, it's the perfect time to grab a cold coffee or a sweet treat. As we enjoy this last stretch of sunshine before the familiar Pacific Northwest rain returns, let’s also take a moment to catch up on what’s been happening in our local real estate market.

The Gig Harbor Market is Heating up🌞

It's no surprise to anyone living here that the Gig Harbor real estate market is still a hot topic. The median price for a single-family home in Gig Harbor rose again in April to a new high of $925,000. This is a significant jump, up nearly $100,000 since local home prices bottomed out in September of 2023. This trend shows our market is strong, with prices up 5.7% from April of last year and a solid 2.9% increase since the beginning of this year.

What does this mean?

• 🏡 Seller's Market Still Strong: The continued rise in median home prices confirms that Gig Harbor remains a seller's market. Demand is robust, and homes are commanding higher prices.

• 📈 A Quick Recovery: The nearly $100,000 jump since last fall shows that our local market has not only recovered from a brief dip but is now moving on a strong upward trajectory.

• 💰 Your Home's Value is Appreciating: This consistent growth, both year-over-year and since the start of the year, indicates a healthy market where property values are appreciating steadily.

In July, the overall Pierce County market remained dynamic:

• 🏡 Active listings reached 2,709 homes, an impressive increase of 22.59% from July of 2024

• 📝 New listings came in at 1,482, showing a rise of 9.52%.

• 🤝 Pending sales were 1,250, a significant increase of 4.08%.

• ✅ Sold listings (closed sales) were up just 3.36%.

What does this tell us?

These numbers paint a picture of a healthy, active market. The surge in both active and new listings is giving buyers more options, which is a welcome change. The fact that pending sales are up, despite the increase in inventory, is a key indicator of continued buyer demand and a market that is absorbing the new listings. Finally, sold listings being up, even by a smaller margin, shows that transactions are completing. This combination suggests a robust and stable market, not one that is stalling.

What About the Economy? 📈

These local market trends are happening against the backdrop of wider economic news. On a larger scale, the Federal Reserve held interest rates steady during their July meeting. This "wait-and-see" approach has contributed to the stable, but not frenzied, market we're seeing. While there's always hope for rate cuts, the general consensus is that any significant drops will likely happen in the fourth quarter. For us, this means it's important as ever to have a long-term perspective when thinking about our real estate decisions, as a potential shift in rates could impact future buying power and market dynamics.