Published June 2001

Report: Home sales continue spring bloom

Herald Business Journal Staff

Home sales were strong in April despite rising prices and concerns over a sluggish economy. That's the word from the Northwest Multiple Listing Service, which represents real estate agents in 11 counties in Western Washington.

Agents closed deals on 1,109 homes in Snohomish County in April, an 11 percent increase over April 2000.

Vern Holden, broker at Windermere Mill Creek, said sales of the most expensive homes were a bit sluggish, but that the market for homes priced from $180,000 to $300,000 "continues to roar."

Prices have risen steadily for the past several years, pushing the combined median price for homes and condominiums in the county to $198,000 in April. That's a 6.5 percent increase from a year ago, when the combined median was $185,976.

The median price for single-family homes only, meaning half cost more and half cost less, was $210,000 in April. For condos only, the median was $147,350.

Holden said interest in home buying continues to be high and that traffic at open houses, particularly for new homes, was still strong. He said he was surprised to hear from three different agents of bidding wars this weekend on homes they represented.

While the economy has clearly slowed, that may help homebuyers at this point because interest rates have remained relatively low.

The only sign of pending slowdown could be the increasing time homes are spending on the market.

In April, the homes that changed hands had spent an average of 56 days up for sale. Last year, the average with 52 days for homes sold in April.

The highest priced homes in April were in east county near the King County line, the site of a number of new developments. Homes in the Maltby area sold for a median price of $264,000.

The least expensive homes were in the northwest portion of the county including Stanwood. Homes there sold for a median of $181,700.

Homes sold the quickest in the Lynnwood-Edmonds-Mountlake Terrace area, where the average sale took only 39 days.

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