Inman

Real estate sales soften in Northwest

Home sales around western Washington dropped 15.4 percent in February from the same month last year, according to the latest figures from the Northwest Multiple Listing Service.

The decline in closed sales reflected lower volumes of pending sales during December and January. NWMLS members reported 4,623 closings systemwide, down from February 2003 when members logged 5,462 completed transactions.

Prices are up about 7.7 percent from a year ago. The median sales price for last month’s closed sales of single-family homes and condominiums was $225,000; a year ago it was $209,000. Residences in San Juan County fetched the highest price, with homes there having a median sales price of $367,750.

King County claimed second place on the price spectrum. Last month’s closed sales in King County had a median selling price of $275,000. For single-family homes only (excluding condos) the median sales price in King County was $295,950. Condominiums that sold in King County last month had a median price of $194,725, up sharply (11.3 percent) from a year ago when the median sales price was $175,000.

On average, homes that sold last month were on the market for 75 days, about four days longer than a year ago. Homes sold at the fastest pace in Snohomish County, where the average time on market was 67 days. In Thurston County, the average was 69 days, following by King and Pierce counties, where the marketing time averaged 71 days.

Kirkland, Wash.-based Northwest Multiple Listing Service covers most of western Washington and has a membership encompassing 1,338 brokerages with around 1,500 offices and 15,575 sales associates.

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