Snohomish County home sales
up significantly in December
Home sales in Snohomish County increased significantly in December and strong pending sales gave agents hope for 2010.
There were 779 homes sold in the county the last month of 2009, a 78 percent increase in comparison to a year ago. Pending sales expected to close in January were up 31 percent, according to the Northwest Multiple Listing Service.
Local home sales were in distinct contrast with the national figures released early in January by the National Association of Realtors, which showed a sharp drop in November sales of existing homes.
While sales were up locally, home prices in the county continued to fall, with the combined median price for single-family homes and condominiums now at $280,000, an 8.8 percent drop from a year ago. Condo prices dropped by 11 percent to a median of $231,000.
The most expensive homes were in south county near Maltby, where the median was $333,747. The least expensive were in the east and north areas of the county, where the median was around $248,000.
Inventory continues to decline. There were 5,376 homes available for sale in December, a 17.5 percent drop from a year ago, according to the listing service.
Banner Bank working to encourage
home sales through loan programs
Banner Bank’s new Peace of Mind home loan program is helping people achieve home ownership by providing job loss insurance, home warranty protection and historically low rates on a limited number of new homes listed on www.bannerbank.com.
“While our economy has begun to improve, many people continue to worry about job security and finances. As a community bank we felt strongly about doing what we could to help our neighbors purchase their dream homes without the fear of losing them if they are laid off and cannot afford their payments,” said Banner Bank Senior Vice President/Real Estate Administration Manager Ken A. Larsen.
Last year Banner Bank offered a home sale event of similar magnitude throughout Washington, Oregon and Idaho with great success. The Great Northwest Home Rush provided affordable financing on hundreds of new homes, with home loan interest rates as low as 3.875 percent.
Through the program Banner Bank helped 373 customers purchase homes. A one-of-a-kind event, Banner’s Great Northwest Home Rush earned national attention for its innovation and success and has since been duplicated by multiple banks throughout the country.
New Lynnwood Permit Center holds ‘open house’ for residents and business owners
Lynnwood residents and business owners joined Mayor Don Gough and other city officials at an open house for the city’s new permit center Dec. 3 at 4114 198th St. SW, Ste. 7, showcasing the center’s new offices.
The center includes additional public counter space, more convenient customer self-service facilities, and an improved plan review area that accommodates a new electronic plan review system to expedite the process.
The Permit Center, opened last October, was previously located at Lynn-wood’s Civic Center Campus.
At the open house Mayor Gough noted the importance of providing quality customer service and the positive comments he has received about the City’s Permit Center. since its inception in 2007. The Mayor also complimented staff for implementing the Permit Center’s move with little interruption to customer service.
The city’s one-stop Permit Center is a single point of public contact for land use, public works, fire and building related permitting.
In addition to the Permit Center, the new location also houses the Community Development Department, Public Works Development Services, Economic Development and Fire Prevention offices.
Affordable housing gets support
from Snohomish County officials
Snohomish County has become increasingly successful in finding funding to assist a wide range of agencies that are building or buying affordable housing units. Last fall, a $120,000 award to Senior Services of Snohomish County was used as leverage to acquire a $2.4 million loan from the state to finance low-interest loans from the state’s Housing Trust Fund, helping to build or buy up to 130 new affordable-housing units by combining four projects into a single portfolio.
Support and seed money from the county earned state support for the home building, county officials said. Also, in the spring of 2009, the county helped secure more than $2.7 million in state funding for Senior Services housing projects.
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