Every month we run the stats and track the median home price for Pierce County. This month, Pierce County’s median home sale price is $445,000. If that seems like a high number, you’re correct. Prices in Pierce County increased by 15% since this time last year when the median home price was at $379,950.
While an increase was expected, 15% is higher than anyone imagined for this year- fueled low interest rates, the pandemic, and by people prioritizing spending on homes more than anything else.
Tacoma real estate market December 2020
If this trend continues and the median home price increased 15% again, the Pierce County median home price in December of 2021 will be $511,000.
This is out of the range that the average family in Pierce County can afford. Pierce County Home Prices have doubled over the past 7 years. In addition to the folks moving here, millennial residents of Pierce County are coming of age and buying houses in droves, and there’s very few homes available to buy, which is driving up the prices. Over the next 30 years, the regions population is expecting to increase by 30%. Millions of people.
Since cities like Seattle and Tacoma have not been able to keep pace with building affordable housing for residents- radical solutions are being proposed. The Cascadia Innovation Corridor solution proposes building four new cities to accommodate the increase in our population caused by human migration and more people being born here.
“Unless existing cities like Seattle are willing to bulldoze 40% of their single family homes, those cities won’t grow dense enough to fit all the people coming to the area in the next few decades. Because of this, housing will get more expensive, urban sprawl will increase and emissions will rise, the report says.” – ‘Pacific Northwest Needs Four New Cities on Undeveloped Land, Report Says’ KUOW
We need more homes for people to live in. We are in an extreme inventory shortage, and without building more housing, this situation is going to get worse and worse. If you have a second home or a rental that you are interested in getting rid of, now is the time to put it on the market. If you know someone who has moved out of state and still has their house, tell them the market is full of buyers who will buy it.
For folks who are in this market trying to buy housing in these conditions, we’ve created these resources for you:
- A list of Tacoma’s Most Affordable Neighborhoods 2020
- How to Be an Educated Homebuyer in Tacoma
- Buying a house in Tacoma when you think you’re priced out
We need more housing. Period. To learn more, check out our blog post “Tacoma isn’t affordable anymore, here’s why.”
