Real estate market has high demand, low inventory

With high demand from buyers and little inventory to sell, Wahkiakum County has a tight, sellers' real estate market.

“Inventory is low,” Kay Cochran of Lower Columbia Realty said when asked about the state of real estate in Wahkiakum County on Tuesday. “I’ve never seen the inventory so low in the 12 years I’ve been in real estate,” Cochran said. “We had a good summer. We sold several properties. The foreclosures, which haunted us for so long, are gone.”

David Nelson of Cathlamet Realty West later echoed her remark.

“I’ve never been so busy in my career,” Nelson said. “I’m amazed and I’ve been doing this for 24 years.”

According to Cochran, eight foreclosed homes have sold since the beginning of the year. Three homes in the county sold for over $300,000 but the bulk of the 41 homes sold this year were under $200,000. There is currently little to nothing left in the inventory at that price range.

When inventory is low, people start looking at vacant land, Nelson said. He expects that there will be three homes under construction in the county soon.

Prices also go up on the property that is available.

“I closed a house at $400,000 recently,” Nelson said, “so buyers are stepping up. There are more people showing up that can afford to buy more expensive property.”

Cochran, however, thinks that buyers are becoming more savvy, looking for information on the assessor’s website and elsewhere to determine the assessed value of a home when a seller appears to be asking for much more.

“In general,” Wahkiakum County Assessor Bill Coons said, “the market appears to be increasing. That means that the price of homes is going up.”

He also shared that the overall value of Wahkiakum County has gone up 5.6 percent since last year.