Published December 2002

Pending home sales soar, prices remain stable

By Mike Benbow
Herald Business Editor

Home sales slumped in October 2001 as the nation reeled from the shock of unthinkable terrorist attacks.

What a difference a year makes.

This October, pending sales in Snohomish County grew by more than 30 percent in comparison with last year. And both sales and prices remained stable, according to a report issued by the Northwest Multiple Listing Service.

Some 1,019 single-family homes and condominiums in the county changed hands in October, about 41 fewer than last year. But pending sales, deals still in the works, soared to 1,177 in October, compared with 904 last year at this time, the listing service reported. That’s an increase of 30.2 percent.

Even when the terrorist attacks are taken into account, pending sales still reflect a strong housing market in the county and in the Puget Sound region as a whole. Sales are expected to pick up even more following the Nov. 6 decision by the Federal Reserve to lower a key interest rate another half-point.

One possible effect of the area’s continued economic woes is that prices aren’t rising at the same pace as they did last year. The median price of a home sold in the county in October was $210,000, the same as the median for September.

Median means half the homes sold for more and half sold for less.

Home appreciation, which had been rising at about 6 percent a year, was also lower in October. The median price for both single-family homes and condos was only 3 percent higher than the median price for a year ago.

The growth in price over the past 12 months was limited to single-family homes.

The median price for condos alone in October was $152,098, nearly identical to the $152,000 median price in October 2001.

Homes are selling in about the same amount of time this year as last, spending an average of 55 days on the market, a day longer than a year ago.

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