Home sales activity through the Spokane Multiple Listing Service tumbled in June, decreasing by nearly 15% from the previous June and falling 6% off May's pace. 

Meantime, the inventory of available homes in the Spokane market continued to increase, as did new listings. 

According to recently released data from Spokane Realtors, 532 home sales closed in June, down from 624 completed sales in the year-earlier month and 565 in May. 

Marianne Bornhoft, a Spokane-based Realtor with Real Broker LLC, says the home sales market is at the beginning of a new cycle, in which activity is moderating after a surge in prices and constrained inventory during the pandemic years. Higher mortgage rates and other inflationary pressures also are affecting affordability. 

However, Bornhoft, who has been involved in residential real estate since the mid-1990s, characterizes such cycles as "normal" and "healthy."

While sales activity in June was down by double digits, the year-to-date decrease isn't nearly as pronounced. A total of 2,700 homes changed hands in the first six months of the year, just under 40 fewer than in the first half of 2023, for a 1.4% decline. Surges in sales activity in February and April buoyed the other four months, in which activity decreased. 

The year-to-date median price has inched up 1.5%, to $415,000. 

Meantime, the inventory of new homes has surged by just over 30%. As of the end of June, nearly 1,260 homes were listed for sale in the Spokane area, compared with 960 a year earlier. The current inventory represents a 2.4-month supply of available homes, up from a 1.5-month supply a year ago. 

Bornhoft points out that a 2.4-month supply is still historically low. Between five and six months of inventory conventionally has been considered a balanced market.