It’s a little too early to tell, but Snohomish County’s long drop in home sales may have reached bottom and started to climb out.
For the first time in a long time, home sales rose significantly in July in comparison to a year ago, the Northwest Multiple Listing Service reported Thursday.
There were 851 homes sold in the county last month, a 17 percent increase from July of 2010. More significantly, there were 1,207 pending sales in July, a 39 percent increase from a year ago.
July was the second straight month with a significant increase in pending sales, home purchases that began the process but weren’t completed.
Pending sales rose throughout the Puget Sound region in July, raising the hopes of real estate agents.
“It’s a classic good news, bad news story,” said Frank Wilson, a John L. Scott Real Estate broker in Poulsbo who is a listing service director. “It’s good news that we seem to be at the bottom. The bad news is that we’re just sitting there.”
One thing that hasn’t changed in the county real estate market is that home prices continued to fall in July.
The combined median price of single-family homes and condominiums was $225,000, a 16.7 percent drop from a year ago. The median was at $225,000 in the county in November of 2004.
Prices continued to fall largely because of the number of foreclosed homes on the market. Snohomish County was in a building boom when the recession hit, and many of the newly built homes and newly purchased homes went back to the bank.
The low prices have prompted many homeowners to lease their homes rather than sell them. There were 4,546 homes for sale last month in the county, a 23 percent drop from a year ago.
In a statement, the listing service called the increase in pending sales encouraging and noted that home prices and mortgage rates are usually low.
Freddie Mac said Thursday that the rate for a 15-year fixed mortgage, a popular refinancing option, dropped to 3.54 percent from 3.66 percent the previous week. That’s the lowest average rate since the mortgage buyer began tracking it in 1991 and is at its lowest level in decades.
The average rate on the 30-year fixed loan fell to a yearly low of 4.39 percent from 4.55 percent the previous week.
July home sales
Snohomish County
Listings: 4,546, down 23 percent
Pending sales: 1,217, up 38.7 percent
Closed sales: 851, up 17 percent
Median prices: $225,000, down 16.7 percent
Island County
Listings: 1,131, down 8 percent
Pending sales: 129, up 20.6 percent
Closed sales: 85, up 1.2 percent
Median prices: $240,000, down 21 percent
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