Increased inventory and interest rates at their lowest levels in a year don’t appear to be motivating homebuyers as strongly as in the past.  

Through August, 2,363 homes were sold, according to data from the Tri-City Association of Realtors. That’s two homes fewer than were sold by that same point in 2024 and hundreds fewer than in previous Augusts in recent years.  

More than 1,200 homes were on the market in the Tri-Cities as of mid-September, the highest number in more than a decade. Interest rates fell as low as 6% in that same time.  

Homebuilder and real estate experts said that a variety of factors could continue to keep buyers on the sidelines.  

While lower than in recent months, interest rates remain above the historic highs prior to 2020 and current homeowners may be reticent to trade their 3% mortgage rate for one that’s 6%, said April Connors, a state lawmaker from Kennewick and Tri-City Realtor, during a recent panel discussion on the Tri-City housing market hosted by TRIDEC on Sept. 9. 

Jeff Losey, executive director of the Home Builder Association of Tri-Cities, said during the event that increased costs due to tariffs and inflation to job uncertainty for the region’s many federally-funded workers, has affected the market.