Call it a tale of two higher-priced cities, separated by a $100,000 difference in median home sale prices.
Bellingham and Anacortes — typically the two most expensive metropolitan areas in Whatcom and Skagit counties when measured by median selling prices — went in different directions in the first quarter of 2024, according to a new real estate sales analysis.
The report, developed by co-owner Peter Ahn of Bellingham-based The Muljat Group from Northwest Multiple Listing Service data, put Bellingham’s median selling price at $780,000 and Anacortes’ at $680,000. That’s up 20% in Bellingham but down 12.3% in Anacortes, compared with the same quarter a year earlier.
When pegged against earlier reported median selling prices for 2023 as a whole, instead of the first quarter year-over-year, Bellingham is still up (for full-year 2023, the median price was $711,000) and Anacortes is still down (for all of 2023, its median was $760,000). The median price is the “middle” value above which half of home sales prices are higher, and half are lower.
Both areas had fewer sales than in the quarter a year prior. Bellingham recorded 126 sales; Anacortes, 38.
Ahn said it’s difficult to compare the two cities directly.
“People who actually work in Anacortes are more likely to buy in surrounding areas and those that work in the surrounding areas are not likely to buy in Anacortes due to the increase in [interest] rates, inventory, and prices affecting affordability,” Ahn said, “but Anacortes does not have many major employers like Bellingham or backed by WWU.”
Overall, the analysis showed Whatcom County with a median sales price of $647,000 in the quarter, up 10.6% year to year.
Lynden had the greatest hike in the absolute number of homes sold, increasing 57.9% to 60, with a median price of $674,500, up 7.9%. The Birch Bay/Blaine area was up 21.4% to $643,500, third highest in the county. Only two Whatcom County communities saw a decrease in median price: Sudden Valley at $556,000 and Mount Baker at $340,000.
Skagit County’s median price was up 8.3% from the first quarter of 2023 to $556,000. La Conner had the greatest increase, up 39.9% to $640,000.
Mount Vernon, which Ahn said in his report appeared to have the strongest housing market in the county, saw a median price increase of 11.5% to $557,550 and its number of home sales decrease only slightly. The analysis noted that aside from Anacortes, no area of Skagit County saw its median price drop.
However, the total number of home sales in Skagit County declined to 222, 17.5% fewer than a year earlier. In Whatcom County, 441 homes sold, increasing 4.3% from Q1 2023.
Frank Catalano writes about business and related topics for CDN; reach him at frankcatalano@cascadiadaily.com.
