Home sales brisk in August

By Mike Benbow

Herald Writer

Snohomish County home prices rose yet again in August, and sales continued at their usual brisk clip.

The combined median price for single-family homes and condominiums in the county was $204,500 in August, a record.

A reported 1,287 homes changed hands, about 50 more than last month but 100 less than in August 2000.

Sales were strong throughout the county and continued at last year’s pace.

Homes spent an average of 49 days on the market in August, exactly the same time as last year.

"I’ve seen no slowdown of our market in south Snohomish County for the last couple of years," said Vern Holden, a broker at Windermere’s Mill Creek office. "As a matter of fact, our market here has been better this year than last."

Holden said the only slowdown has been in high-end homes — those over $400,000.

In Lake Stevens, Meribeth Hutchings, a broker at Windermere’s Lake Stevens office, said July was the best month she’s seen during the six-year history of her office.

"If this is a bad market, we’d like to see it continue," she said, referring to reports of slowdowns in other areas.

The median price for just single-family homes alone in the county was $215,000 in August, a 10.3 percent increase from the $195,000 median at this time last year.

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

That compares to a median price in King County of $268,725 for a single-family house, which increased 9.9 percent over the past year.

For condominiums and single-family homes, the King County median price was $245,000.

There are no combined figures for Island County. On Camano Island, the median was $183,000 last month; on Whidbey Island, it was $179,900.

Here’s an area-by-area rundown on sales for Snohomish County:

Clearview, southeast county. Because of the many new homes here, the median price of $273,450 was the highest in the county. There were 134 homes sold in an average time of 55 days.

Edmonds, Lynnwood, Mountlake Terrace. The $214,950 median price here was second highest in the county. The 308 homes sold in the fastest average time, 41 days.

Everett, Mukilteo, Mill Creek. About 374 homes here sold in August. They brought a median price of $211,680 and spent an average of 46 days on the market.

Lake Stevens, Granite Falls, Darrington. The median price of the 139 homes sold last month was $179,975. They took an average of 57 days to sell.

Snohomish, Monroe, Gold Bar. There were 117 home sales here last month, for a median price of $192,000. Average sale time was 53 days.

Stanwood, Arlington, Marysville. There were 180 homes sold here in August for a median price of $185,782. They spent an average of 46 days on the market.

You can call Herald Writer Mike Benbow at 425-339-3459

or send e-mail to benbow@heraldnet.com.