Published November 2002

Report: Pending home sales soar, prices remain high

SCBJ Staff

Pending home sales in September in Snohomish County rose nearly 40 percent in comparison to last year.

That’s the word from the Northwest Multiple Listing Service, which also reported that completed sales were down a bit and prices remained relatively high.

The combined median price in the county for single-family homes and condominiums was $210,000 in September. That’s a 5 percent increase in comparison to last year, when homes sold for a median price of $199,950.

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

For single-family homes alone, the median price was $217,800 in September, an increase of 3.7 percent over last year. Condos sold for a median price of $158,200, a 2.4 percent increase from September 2001.

Single-family homes spent longer on the market — an average of 53 days in comparison to 48 for condos, according to the listing service.

The combined time on the market for both types of homes was 52 days, two days longer than last year.

In Snohomish County, there were 1,137 pending sales in September. That compares to 813 in September 2001, a nearly 40 percent increase.

While pending sales dropped off significantly after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks last year, this year’s activity is still much higher than it was during the previous four years, according to the report.

As the numbers of buyers have increased, so have the number of available homes.

There were 4,880 homes on the market in Snohomish County in September, a 10 percent increase in comparison to last year at this time.

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