Northwest Multiple Listing Service reports gains in the number of home sales closing this past February across most Washington state counties. There is more good news to come as pending sales move to close, according to the Kirkland-based company’s monthly recap.
In Snohomish County, the number of closed sales of residential and condo units gained 53.4 percent. South County cities closed sales were up 8 percent. The future appears more positive. Snohomish County pending sales — those offers made and accepted but not yet closed — are up nearly 71 percent with South County pending sales up more than 43 percent.
Prices in South County cities are showing signs of stabilization but are still posting lower than last year. The median price in February 2009 was $325,000, dipping to $309,970, or nearly 5 percent, in February 2010. While residential property prices slipped by close to 6 percent, condo prices lifted more than 13 percent. Countywide, combined prices fell double digits, 10.8 percent, with residential sales falling more than 10 percent and condo units falling close to 12 percent.
In the four-county Puget Sound region, the median price for a single family home closing last month was $297,000, down 2.6 percent from a year-ago figure of $305,000. Condo prices in the area fell 7.7 percent, from $253,000 to $233,500.
“We are entering what is traditionally our busiest home selling season,” said NWMLS director O.B. Jacobi, general manager of Windermere Real Estate. Additionally, he reported “significant traffic” at open houses, which he attributes to the first-time homebuyer tax credit and rising consumer confidence.
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