Sales of single-family homes sold through the Spokane Association of Realtors’ Multiple Listing Service are up 7.7% through the first six months of the year, compared with the year-earlier period.

The MLS reports 3,598 homes and condos on less than 1 acre of land were sold through June, compared with 3,340 through June 2020.

Meantime, the median price through June of single-family homes is up 25.5% to $352,000, compared with $280,456 in the year-earlier period.

“We’ve been underbuilding for a number of years, and perhaps we still are,” says Rob Higgins, executive officer of the Spokane Association of Realtors. He adds that increased building materials costs, along with a low amount of suitable land available to build on and millennials reaching the average homebuying age, has “created a perfect storm as far as high demand, low supply, and it’s accelerating home prices at rates we seldom see.”

Overall inventory was down to 284 properties as of June 30, which represents a 12-day supply, according to the report. This represents a 61% decrease from a year earlier, when inventory was 728 properties. 

The association also recently started tracking new listings in April, which saw a 5.2% decrease, with 4,401 new listings through the first half of the year, compared to 4,640 during the year-earlier period.