Published January 2003

Home sales up, but so
are number of days
spent on market

By Mike Benbow
Herald Business Editor

Overall, the residential real estate market in Snohomish County looked strong again in November, with listings, sales, pending sales and prices all exceeding 2001’s comparable numbers, the Northwest Multiple Listing Service reported.

But the details released by the service, which represents Realtors in 14 Washington counties, paint a conflicting local picture.

While sales totals are up throughout the county, the time it takes to sell a particular house has increased — dramatically in some areas — a sure sign that things are slowing down.

Take the U.S. 2 communities of Snohomish, Monroe and Gold Bar, for example. In 2001, there were 63 homes sold there in November, and they sold in an average of 56 days. In November 2002, sales were up to 83, but it took nearly three weeks longer — 75 days — for the average sale.

Homes in the Stanwood, Marysville and Arlington areas also spent a lot more time on the market in November — 63 days in 2002 compared to 52 in November 2001. Homes in the Granite Falls, Lake Stevens and Darrington areas sold in an average of 62 days in 2002 compared to 55 days in 2001.

As usual, homes closer to King County sold the quickest. In Lynnwood, Edmonds and Mountlake Terrace, for example, homes sold in 55 days this past November compared to 40 in November 2001. Mill Creek and Mukilteo posted similar numbers, likely because of the price gap between homes in Snohomish and King counties.

The combined median price for condos and single-family homes sold in Snohomish County in November was $218,000, a 9 percent increase from the November 2001 figure of $199,950. Median means half the homes sold for more and half sold for less.

In King County, the median was $252,000, a less than 2 percent hike from the $247,500 median of November 2001.

The price break here helped boost sales to 984 homes, a strong increase from 2001’s November sales of 722. The number of pending sales — where sellers have accepted an offer that has yet to go through closing — totaled 1,001, a 34 percent increase from November 2001’s numbers.

The listing service said brokers it had contacted attributed the numbers to continued low mortgage rates, good inventory and rising confidence in the economy.

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