Published October 2002

Home sales down 12%
from year ago

By Mike Benbow
Herald Business Editor

Snohomish County’s home sales continued their summer slump in August.

The number of homes on the market increased significantly; closed sales dropped; and the average home took longer to sell than it did last year, according to statistics from the Northwest Multiple Listing Service.

The number of homes for sale in August was 4,860, a more than 12 percent increase from this time last year, when there were 4,319 homes seeking buyers.

In August, those homes spent an average of 52 days on the market.

While that was four days longer than a year ago, it’s still the second-fastest sales period in the Puget Sound region, according to the listing service, which represents Realtors in the Puget Sound area.

At 49 days on average, King County homes were the fastest sellers.

In August, there were 1,100 homes sold in Snohomish County, a 12 percent drop from a year ago. But pending sales — sales in the works that hadn’t yet closed — were up nearly 8 percent.

Median prices also slipped a bit in August to $216,999 for both homes and condominiums. July’s median price, meaning half sold for more and half sold for less, was a record $217,500. August’s median price was 6.1 percent greater than the $204,500 median of a year ago.

For single-family homes alone, the median price was $222,547 in August. For condos, it was $149,965.

Home sales in the county have lagged behind the comparable numbers for last year all summer. But while the number of homes sold slipped in June, July and August, prices have remained near record levels, in part due to the even higher prices in the Seattle area. In King County, the median price just for single-family homes was $280,000.

The higher prices in King County have helped sales and prices in Snohomish County as many people priced out of the market looked north for more affordable housing options.

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