Homes on market in county rise, but not enough for demand

Published 1:30 am Tuesday, June 6, 2017

EVERETT — A surge of new homes hit the market in Snohomish County in May, but the total overall supply of homes for sale was still down.

Homeowners put For Sale signs on 2,108 houses and condos last month. That’s up 13 percent over May 2016 when 1,862 homes were put on the market.

But the total active listings were still down 15 percent last month compared with the previous year. Only 1,275 homes were active throughout the month compared with 1,505 a year ago.

The county has less than a month of inventory on the real estate market. That figure is defined as how long it would take for all of the homes in a market to sell if no new homes are added. A real estate market is considered healthy with four to six months of inventory.

Housing prices are up in all parts the county compared with the previous year. The median price for houses reached $450,000 for all of the county up from $389,950 the previous year. That’s a 15.4 percent increase.

Condos reached $275,000 in May compared with $257,500 in 2016. That’s a 6.8 percent increase.