April brought good news for the Tri-Cities housing market. Buyers got more choices, but not enough to tip the scales. Expect a tight, fast-moving market through early summer. The real test is yet to come. If listings hold their gains while sales stay hot, that’s the first sign of genuine breathing room ahead.

Active listings climbed to 2,373 in April, up more than 6% from March. Inventory is still below where supply was before the pandemic, but it’s better than last year and the second-best April for inventory since 2020.

Here’s the catch, and it’s an important one. Buyers are snapping the new inventory up just as fast as it appears. Closed sales jumped to 757 in April, up 18% from March and up 42% since January. So, while active inventory is getting restocked it’s emptying about as fast as it fills.

Months of inventory is where the tug-of-war shows up in one simple number. That figure has barely budged all year. It has ranged between 3.3 and 3.4 months. Anything under about six months still favors sellers.

What’s coming next? Pending sales hit 918 in April, the highest of the year. Just as telling, annualized pending sales rose in April for the 11th straight month, a nearly year-long streak that shows demand isn’t a seasonal blip. April’s pending sales turn into completed sales over the next month or two, which means May and June closings are already lining up strong. That demand will eat into the inventory that just arrived.