Bellingham & Whatcom County Market Data

Like the stock market, it is impossible to project exactly how COVID-19 will impact real estate in the next year. Many experts predict a slowdown, which is not surprising. But what about prices? Will low inventory levels offset a major shift due to COVID? Experts agree that based on cyclical history, the real estate market is due to shift, with Buyers having more power than Sellers. Let's look at what did happen in February, as it's an indication of the health of the market pre-COVID.

New listings are up from February of 2019. More Sellers are choosing to list before Spring (typically when we see new listings increase). Real Estate Agents everywhere are telling Sellers now is a good time to sell because there is so little competition, so I believe that definitely has impacted new listing activity.

Interestingly, pending sales are also up significantly, which means both Buyers and Sellers are more active than they were last year at this time. 

Prices continue to steadily climb, and home are selling for 99% of list price, but days on market continues to climb. This indicates to me that demand continues to exceed supply, but Buyers are not frenzied in the way they were a year ago.

The report below is for all of Whatcom County. 

Bellingham's Stats for Residential Homes:

Bellingham's average price was $530,000, median price was $440,000.

Bellingham's Average Days on Market was 47.

Bellingham's Months of Inventory was 

July’s numbers are not surprising, as they reflect the same pattern we saw in June. New listings are down, but as homes stay on the market slightly longer (5 days longer from June to July), inventory levels remain flat.

What these market stats don’t reflect is the increase in price reductions. This too is not surprising, as many sellers and/or their real estate agents became greedy, and their list price was just too high. The message agents are telling their sellers is that in this market, if a home is not selling, the price is too high. Of course, higher end homes often take slightly longer to sell. With few exceptions, a home listed in Whatcom Countyfor more than 60 days (and I can argue that number could be lower) is likely overpriced. Having said that, homes continue to sell for over 99% of their list price.

Based on my own experience as a real estate agent, demand from out-of-area buyers remains high. Bellingham’s economy may not entirely support it’s high prices, but between retirees and out-of-area buyers, I expect prices will continue to climb.

For further understanding of why Bellingham has become so popular, and what that popularity has done to home prices in the last 3 years, check out my Why Bellingham? page.

June 2019 vs. June 2018 - Whatcom County:

• New listings are down
• Pending sales are up
• Months of Inventory and Days on Market are steady
• Median Sales Price is up

June vs. May

• New listings are down
• Pending sales are down
• Months of Inventory are steady
• Days on Market are down
• Median sales price is up

Limited inventory means listed homes are continuing to sell for over 99% of list price. Although part of why we are seeing inventory levels and days on market creep higher is because some sellers are getting greedy. If homes are well priced, they are still going fast.

June Update for Bellingham’s Southside (defined as zip code 98225, for simplicity):

June 2019 vs. June 2018

• New listings are down
• Pending sales are down
• Months of Inventory and Days on Market are steady
• Median Sales Price is up

June vs. May

• New listings are down
• Pending sales are down
• Months of Inventory and Days on Market are up
• Median sales price is up

Homes on the Southside are selling for nearly 101% of list price, which is a reflection of the strong demand and low inventory levels for 98225: there is one months less supply of homes in 98225 than in all of Whatcom County.