The Northwest MLS released their monthly real estate market statistics for May, 2025. Below is the text quote from their press release and their market snapshot video:

Monthly Market Update

New listings continue to outpace sales as inventory builds

Published on: June 4, 2025

Northwest MLS, the source for the most current, accurate market listing data in Washington state, today released its Market Snapshot for May 2025.

Market Recap

The real estate market continued to experience significant growth in housing inventory across NWMLS’s coverage area. While buyer activity showed some signs of seasonal strength, it continued to lag behind the surge in new and active listings. Buyers may be slow to accepting what may be a new normal, with mortgage rates continuing to hover close to 7% and construction costs hampering new developments.

Still, May brought some encouraging signs for buyers. The number of active listings reached 18,310, marking the highest level of inventory since September 2018 when there were 19,256 homes on the market. In addition, prices showed signs of stabilizing: the median home price declined 1% year-over-year and edged up less than 1% from April, indicating a slowdown in price growth. This increase in supply gives buyers more options and may help ease some competitive pressure.

Consumer activity reflected this renewed interest. Keyboxes at listed properties were accessed 179,613 times, up 16.7% from April and 9.9% year-over-year. Scheduled showings also rose, up 13.9% from the previous month and 2.8% from May 2024, based on appointments made through NWMLS-provided software.

Among other tools available to NWMLS brokers is the Down Payment Resource (DPR) program, which connects buyers to down payment assistance options. There were 20,416 DPR-eligible properties on the market in May 2025, 70.30% of active listings, meaning buyers could potentially qualify for additional financial support on nearly three-quarters of the available inventory even as prices remain elevated in many markets.

Yet despite increased inventory, sales growth did not keep pace. “Relative to the previous month, the number of active listings increased by 3,851 (from 14,459 in April 2025), while the number of closed sales increased by only 580 (from 5,887 in April 2025),” said Steven Bourassa, director of the Washington Center for Real Estate Research (WCRER). “In other words, listings increased by nearly six and a half times the growth in the number of sales.”

May 2025 Key Takeaways

Active Listings

• There was a 42.63% increase year-over-year in the total number of properties listed for sale in the NWMLS service area, from 12,837 in May 2024 to 18,310 active listings in May 2025. This was also a 26.6% increase from 14,459 active listings in April 2025.
• The number of homes for sale year-over-year increased throughout the NWMLS coverage area, with 24 out of 26 counties seeing a double-digit year-over-year increase. The six counties with the highest increases in active inventory were Clallam (+72.5%), Snohomish (+64.1%), Ferry (+59.1%), King (+57.7%), Grant (+53.3%) and Adams (+52.3%).

Closed Sales

• The number of closed sales decreased by 3.3% year-over-year, down from 6,689 in May 2024 to 6,467 in May 2025. When compared to the previous month, the number of closed sales increased by 9.9%, up from 5,887 sales in April 2025.
• The five counties with the largest increases were Jefferson (+48.4%), Cowlitz (+47.8%), San Juan (+27.8%), Adams (+20%) and Skagit (+17.5%).

Median Sales Price and Total Dollar Value

The total dollar value of closed sales in May 2025 for residential homes was $4,732,782,810 and was $546,957,344 for condominiums ($5,279,740,154 in total).

Overall, the median price for residential homes and condominiums sold in May 2025 was $654,995, a slight decrease of 0.8% when compared to May 2024 ($660,000). When compared to last month, the median price slightly increased ($650,000 in April 2025).

The three counties with the highest median sale prices were King ($865,000), San Juan ($831,000) and Snohomish ($785,000), and the three counties with the lowest median sale prices were Ferry ($138,000), Columbia ($256,000) and Pacific ($323,000).

https://www.nwmls.com/early-spring-shows-initial-signs-of-market-warm-up/

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Entire MLS

This real estate market update provides statistics for the entire Northwest MLS. It covers all of Western Washington and some parts of Eastern Washington too. So it’s really intended to just give a general idea about what the market is like as a whole. Good to know and good to then compare to the more local neighborhoods. So what about your neighborhood, specifically?

📊 The latest NWMLS market stats are now live!
I’ll be posting these MLS updates monthly and sharing deeper insights into our local neighborhoods – 7 Lakes, Marysville, Stanwood, and Arlington. See this month’s local stats here.

Curious about your specific neighborhood? Call, text, or message me anytime—I’m happy to get you the latest numbers for your area!