By Mike Irwin / The Wenatchee World
WENATCHEE — Summer temperatures aren’t the only thing sizzling. The hot Wenatchee home market set a new price record in June, while prices also crackled in Leavenworth and Cashmere.
The median price for a single-family home in Wenatchee hit $280,500 in June, surpassing the previous record of $279,900 set in May. The three-month median for April-May-June spiked to $287,500.
“It’s reached an all-time high,” Pacific Appraisal Associates, the Wenatchee-based consulting and appraisal firm, said in its monthly real estate snapshot for June.
High demand and a continuing drop in listings fueled the price surge. Real estate agents say an influx of retirees, new employees in health care and agriculture and growing families looking for more space have all contributed to the roiling local markets.
June’s total for active listings in the Wenatchee market fell 28 percent — to 146 from 202 — compared to the same month last year. Year-to-date total listings was down 12 percent, to 635 from 720 in the first half of 2016.
The Wenatchee market includes Wenatchee, East Wenatchee, Malaga, Orondo and Rock Island.
Meanwhile, Leavenworth’s median home price for 2017’s second quarter jumped 27 percent to $385,000, while listings fell 17 percent. Cashmere’s median price for the second quarter hit $304,500, a 17 percent rise from the same quarter last year.
Other details of June’s housing markets:
• In the Wenatchee market, the number of new building permits issued this year for single-family homes hit 124, surpassing 105 issued in the first half of 2016.
• The Wenatchee rental market in June remained dismal: zero percent vacancies for condos (down 100 percent from 2016), 0.5 percent vacancies for single-family homes (down 78 percent) and 0.5 percent vacancies for duplexes (down 55 percent). Traditionally, a healthy rental market has from 4 to 6 percent vacancies.
• In Leavenworth, the number of listings in 2017’s second quarter fell 17 percent to 105 from 127 last year. The average days on the market dropped 52 percent to 113 from 237 last year.
• The Cashmere market bucked local trends by marking a 229 percent increase in second-quarter listings — to 23 from 7 last year. Days on the market also jumped by 232 percent — to 136 from 41 last year.
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