Down: The median price of homes – both residential and condominium – in Pierce and Thurston counties.
Down: The number of homes actively listed for sale.
Down: The number of new listings.
Up: The number of home sales pending.
So much for the first month of 2012.
The Northwest Multiple Listing Service, which represents more then 22,000 real estate professionals in 21 Washington counties, on Monday reported data for January.
“Given that we lost a week with some of the worst weather in 16 years, the numbers are astoundingly good,” said Ken Anderson, an MLS director and designated broker at Coldwell Banker Evergreen Olympic Realty in Olympia.
Anderson said the numbers reported Monday are no longer tied to “the artificial stimulus of various tax credits and incentives that date to 2009.”
“The improvement in the numbers show that the market is healing itself and standing on its own.”
Among the numbers:
• The median price of homes in Pierce County fell 12.53 percent over the year from $200,000 to $174,950. In Thurston County, the price fell 4.27 percent from $214,950 to $205,782. At the median sale price, half the homes sold for more than that amount, and half sold for less.
• In King County, the median price was down 16.04 percent, dipping from $333,500 to $280,000 over the year. Closed sales were up 13.5 percent while pending sales rose 15.09 percent.
Prices throughout the region ranged from $13,000, for a manufactured home in Sultan, to $26.8 million for a Mercer Island waterfront estate.
Overall, the available inventory of homes and condominiums is down nearly 20 percent in the region compared to last year, MLS said in its monthly news release. Brokers added 6,666 new listings across the 21 counties, with single-family homes comprising some 85 percent of the additions.
The lower number of new listings joining the market came as the result of several factors, said J. Lennox Scott, CEO and chairman of John L. Scott Real Estate.
He noted the number of potential sellers whose mortgages are underwater, as well as sellers who are waiting for home prices to increase.
“The low number of new listings combined with the increase in sales activity is creating a shortage of homes for sale in specific areas and price ranges,” Scott said.
JANUARY HOME DATA
PIERCE COUNTY
Single-family homes and condos in January 2012, compared to January 2011
• Median sale prices fell 12.53 percent from $200,000 to $174,950
• Closed sales fell 0.54 percent from 554 units to 551 units
• Inventory, the number of units actively listed for sale for the month, fell 19.16 percent from 5,124 units to 4,142 units
• New listings fell from 1,354 units to 1,043 units
THURSTON COUNTY
Single-family homes and condos in January 2012, compared to January 2011
• Median prices fell 4.27 percent from $214,950 to $205,782
• Closed sales rose 0.65 percent from 155 units to 156 units
• Inventory, the number of units actively listed for sale, fell 13.55 percent from 1,528 units to 1,321 units
• New listings fell from 385 units to 262 units
C.R. Roberts: 253-597-8535
c.r.roberts@thenewstribune.com