January 2023 Market Update for Lewis County WA

Ready for your January 2023 Market Update? Did you know the market went up last month? That’s right, based on the headlines you probably thought we were in a freefall, huh. We’ll tell you what the market’s doing and what you can expect as we kick off the new year!

January 2023 Market Update

Hey its your favorite local Realtor, Eren Millam w/ Premiere Property Group. I specialize in all things Lewis County because it’s where I live, work, & play. If this is your first time seeing me, I do 1-2 videos a week covering the market, reacting to real estate gurus, educating and informing you to make the best financial decisions when it comes to real estate. If you’d like to learn more about me, upcoming events in the area, or check out my weekly blog, you can visit my website, LewisCountyHomes.com. Now that we got that out of the way, let’s dig in!

Lewis County Market for 4^th Quarter 2022

Taking a look at this chart, we see that the market went up for 2 out of the last 3 months. Now, taken out of context we could say the market is showing an increasing trend – so be wary of misleading headlines. In reality the market is settling in to our new normal. It’s like sitting in your favorite chair to watch the latest movie. You have to find the perfect spot to be really comfortable! Ahhh.

Delving into the context further, we started 2022 with an average residential sales price of just over $418,000. We ended the year at just under $421,000. All of the gains we experienced in the first half of the year, we lost in the 2^nd half of the year. So, from June, we’re down overall, but from every other month besides March, we’re up. Hopefully this helps you see this supposed crash is not much of a crash at all. In fact, we’re still up year to date.

Home Prices Don’t Match the Headlines

So prices are up, but why? This is important because if you don’t know why the market is doing what it is, you have no idea what it’s going to do next. Before I started doing market updates with the local newspaper, shout out to the Chronicle, the previous real estate expert was regurgitating these stats I’m showing you but lacked any context. When asked what to expect going forward, the previous real estate expert said, “I don’t know.” Now I’m not trying to drag this person down, but it is our job as fiduciaries to give real estate advice. “I don’t know” is not advice you can do anything with. I guess what I’m trying to say is, barring unforeseen world events outside your control, you can absolutely know what the market will do next if you understand why it’s behaving the way it is.

So why are prices up? It’s still all about supply and demand. While the interest rates have made housing less affordable, all it’s really doing is creating a dam of pent up buyer demand. On top of that, because there are less buyers actively in the market, builders have cut back. This means our historically low inventory is going to take even longer to catch up. The buyers that NEED to move are still active. The buyers that can afford these interest rates are still active. Meanwhile, inventory is going down as sellers take their home off the market.

What Do the Pricing Trends Show

Taking a look at the last 5 years, anytime the market goes up in December – which happened twice – the market took a step back in January (as show in February Market Update) by a very insignificant amount. That step back was then followed by a large increase in February (which shows up in the March Market Update). Barring interest rate increase, this is what I expect to happen.

So if you’re a buyer, get in before it gets any more expensive. If you’re a seller, STOP taking low offers. It’s just going to take a little longer than it has the last few years. Remember, Just a couple years ago, the average in Lewis County was a little under 3 months. We appear to be returning to normalcy there. Also, the buyers in this current market are a lot more picky, because there’s less competition. You have to make sure your home is market ready before going on the market.

And that’s your January 2023 Market Update for Lewis County.

If this was helpful to you in any way, consider giving it a like so more people who have the same question can see it and subscribe to my channel so you don’t miss any need to know information about our current market. I am seeing many people losing 10s of thousands of dollars just because they don’t know what the market is actually bearing. Again, I’m Eren Millam with Premiere Property Group, and remember, never settle for less than extraordinary!

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If you’re thinking of buying or selling your home in the west Lewis County area, contact me today! I’d love to hear from you! Eren Millam – Managing Broker Premiere Property Group, LLC WA License No. 26933

Chehalis, WA 98532 | Centralia, WA 98531 | Adna, WA | Napavine, WA | Onalaska, WA 98570 | Rochester, WA 98579 | Vader, WA 98593 | Winlock, WA 98596 | Boistfort, WA 

Call/Text: (360) 219-3616 | Email: Eren@LewisCountyHomes.com

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