If you want to know where the Tri-Cities housing market really stood at the end of 2025, pending sales are one of the cleanest ways to see it. Closed sales are about what happened 30–60 days ago. Pending sales are about what buyers are doing now.

Buyers were still signing contracts in December. They were just in a more seasonal, selective, and price-aware mood. Approved contracts fell 14% from November. It’s what was expected as the market hits the holidays and daylight disappears. But the more meaningful comparison is year-over-year:

 Pending sales up 18% from last year

That matters because it tells us the Tri-Cities finished the year in a stronger demand position than where it started. In other words, momentum cooled seasonally, but the market floor rose.

Pending sales trend quietly improving

Monthly pending sales are noisy. A multitude of external events have a part. That’s why annualized pending sales are a powerful metric. They smooth out volatility and show the direction of the pipeline.

From Dec 2024 to Dec 2025, annualized pending sales rose by 8.7%.

That’s valuable because it’s a steady trend that shows  persistent improvement in the market’s contract pipeline across the year. It says the Tri-Cities market didn’t just have a good month in December. It had a better year-long demand profile.

What about demand?

To understand the market’s real shape, look at where buyers were willing to transact by price tier. Here are the core segments:

• Affordable market: $160,000–$299,999
• Move-Up market: $300,000–$499,999
• Luxury market: $500,000+

Here’s what December pending sales showed:

Affordable pending sales

• 251 contracts, up roughly 32% year-over-year.

The Tri-Cities is still anchored by affordability-driven demand,  but that demand is becoming more competitive.

The strongest growth inside the affordable market was concentrated in the upper price ranges of the affordable market.

• $200K–$249,999 contacts were up 41.5%
• $250K–$299,999 contracts were up 28.8%

 Move-up pending sales

The move-up market had a quieter increase than the affordable market. It was up 11% year-over-year,

The market split in a very revealing way:

• $300K–$399,999, up 15%
• $400K–$499,999, up 3.9%

Move-up demand is improving, but the growth is concentrated in the lower half of the move-up tier. Buyers are stepping up, but with limits.

Luxury pending sales

Luxury pending sales were up 5.7% year-over-year, which is notable because luxury is usually the first segment to soften when rates or uncertainty rise.

Instead, the Tri-Cities luxury segment held firm and even grew modestly. It’s a signal that the high-end demand is still present, but it’s increasingly tied to specific property quality, location, and value alignment, not frenzy.

What to watch

If this pending-sales structure carries into Q1, it suggests 2026 starts with:

• stronger entry-level competition
• continued move-up stabilization
• selective but durable luxury demand

Categories: TRENDS