By the numbers, Clark County, Washington, remains in seller’s market territory. At 3.9 months of inventory, the metro area just north of Portland, Oregon, hasn’t crossed the four-month threshold that local agents use to mark a balanced market. But the numbers and the experience on the ground are telling different stories – and for buyers and sellers trying to make decisions right now, that gap matters.
Tesha Perry, managing broker for the Giving Group Realty team with Keller Williams, who has worked the Clark County and Portland markets for 23 years, describes a market where nearly every leading indicator has softened. Pending ratios have dropped to about 35%, roughly half the 70% level she considers normal. Active listings are up 25.7% over prior levels. And the ratio of sold price to list price has slipped from the 100–105% range to somewhere between 97.2% and 99%. “It actually feels like a buyer’s market,” Perry says.
Clark County’s seasonal patterns are usually predictable: quiet from mid-December through mid-February, another lull in August, with activity rising in between. This year broke the script. February through April was unusually busy, but late June through August went flat. “We didn’t get our summer selling season,” Perry says.
What stood out wasn’t just the slowdown in activity – it was the size of the price corrections needed to move listings. Sellers across all price ranges are making $25,000 adjustments, not the $5,000 reductions that were typical in prior cycles. Perry says she has never seen adjustments that large applied so broadly, including in sub-million-dollar price ranges.
Appreciation hasn’t turned negative, which Perry interprets as a sign the market is slowing rather than correcting. Year-over-year appreciation sits at roughly 2%, well below the 4–6% she considers typical for a healthy market and far from the 18% spike of 2020. “Thankfully we’re not going backward,” she says. “It is literally just a slowing of the market and a realignment of the interest rate side of it.”
The pricing conversation with sellers has become more difficult. Perry describes a common dynamic: sellers want to list at the top of their price range and sell within 30 days. “You can’t have both ends of the candle burning,” she tells them. “You have to pick which one’s more important to you – is it time or is it money?”
She uses what she calls the 10-10 rule to diagnose stalled listings. If a home has been on the market for 10 days without 10 showings, the issue is price. If it has 10 showings and no offer, it’s price, condition, or location – but price fixes all three. Once a home is adjusted to the right level, Perry says, multiple offers can still materialize.
A notable share of her current sellers are leaving the area entirely. Perry estimates that most of the sellers she’s working with this year are relocating out of state, often to markets like Idaho, Tennessee, Texas, or Florida. Many are making a financial calculation: sell in Clark County and pay cash in a lower-cost market. The political environment is also a factor she hears cited frequently, though she notes she tends not to be political herself.
The first-time buyer profile has shifted. Where the typical entry-level buyer used to be in their mid-20s, Perry now sees that cohort arriving in their mid-30s, often after years in apartments or living with roommates. The sub-$300,000 segment has largely disappeared for single-family homes – that price range is now condo territory. The average home price in Clark County sits at roughly $662,000, meaning first-time buyers are entering at what would have been considered move-up prices a generation ago.
At the upper end, buyers in the $2–3 million range are increasingly paying cash, a trend Perry says is more pronounced than at any prior point in her career. These buyers tend to carry significant equity across multiple properties or have done well in investment markets.
Within Clark County, conditions vary by neighborhood. Ridgefield, one of the fastest-growing communities in the state, maintains strong demand and slightly higher prices – but its builders are struggling. Perry estimates new-construction sales there have dropped roughly 40%, prompting builders to offer significant buyer incentives. Camas remains consistently strong. Battleground, where Perry is based, has appreciated meaningfully over the past 15 years, and development pressure is pushing the county’s growth northward into formerly rural areas.
An interesting migration pattern has emerged as well. About seven or eight years ago, a wave of residents left for Idaho. Perry says some of those buyers are now returning to Clark County.
Both buyers and sellers are approaching the market with increased caution. Buyers are waiting to see if rates drop closer to 6%, a threshold Perry considers realistic in the near term, though she doubts 5% will arrive within the next year or two. Her concern is that when rates do drop, a wave of sidelined buyers will enter the market and push prices back up, erasing the negotiating leverage buyers currently hold. “You’re going to lose the momentum and opportunity that you had with sellers to get the very best price for you as a buyer,” she says.
Perry also notes that MLS rule changes have limited how agents can discuss buyer compensation and creative financing options in listings – tools like 3-2-1 rate buydowns that she says can still bring effective rates down to around 4% for buyers willing to use them.
For investors considering Clark County, Perry points to motivated sellers, strong rental demand supported by high apartment occupancy, and the ability to negotiate on closing costs or rate buydowns. Her caution: pay attention to drive times and proximity to employment centers.
The tension in Clark County right now is between what the inventory data says and what the transaction data shows. By one measure, sellers still have the edge. By nearly every other measure – pending ratios, price-to-list spreads, the size of adjustments needed to generate offers – buyers hold more leverage than they have in years. For sellers, that means pricing accurately from day one rather than testing the top of the range and adjusting later. For buyers, it means the window of reduced competition may not last once rates move lower.
About the Expert: Tesha Perry, managing broker for the Giving Group Realty team with Keller Williams, who has worked the Clark County, Washington, and Portland, Oregon markets for 23 years.
This article is based on information provided by the expert source cited above. It is intended for general informational purposes only and does not constitute legal, financial, or real estate advice. Readers should conduct their own research and consult qualified professionals before making any real estate or financial decisions.
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