PORT TOWNSEND –– Powered by a strong demand for Port Ludlow homes, the Jefferson County housing market continued a strong recovery through the first half of the year, as more homes sold for a higher average price through June than at the same point last year.
“More things are moving,” said Dick Pilling, spokesman for the Port Angeles Association of Realtors.
“Obviously, when you’re having a comeback, the faster movers are going to be the lower-priced houses,” Pilling said.
The Seattle real estate market tends to bleed over to the North Olympic Peninsula, he said, and right now, metro real estate is booming as more homes priced at $1 million and up are selling now than at any time since 2007, before the real estate crash.
“Brokers in the Seattle market are keeping busy as multiple offers and cash buyers dominate new, well-priced listings in most markets,” said John Deely, a director with the Northwest Multiple Listing Service.
There were 232 homes sold in Jefferson County in 2014’s first half, up from the 212 sold in the first half of 2013, a 10.6 percent increase, according to data from the Northwest Multiple Listing Service.
Those homes sold for an average price of $280,181, up from the $275,734 average price from the same point last year.
Those prices should continue to rise, as the total number of homes on the market in June is down from the 501 at the end of June 2013 to 440 at the end of this June.
Typically the engine of the Jefferson County real estate market, Port Townsend sales were close to 2013 levels, with 98 homes sold compared to 93 last year.
Average sale price in Port Townsend was $290,200 during the first half of 2014, a 24.7 percent spike from the $279,041 average price from the first half of 2013.
Much of this year’s increase came in southeast Jefferson County, as the 44 sales in Port Ludlow were up from 37 a year ago, and the 17 homes sold in Port Hadlock topped the 12 from last year.
The average price paid for a Port Hadlock home nearly doubled from last year, selling for an average of $216,488 this year compared to a $118,449 average from last year’s first half.
Ludlow sale prices were up significantly as well, jumping from an average of $270,906 through June 2013 to $306,994 through June of this year.
In Clallam County, it was a tale of two cities, as the Sequim market saw a 16 percent increase in the number of first-half homes sold and the Port Angeles market dropped 11 percent.
According to the Olympic Multiple Listing Service, 331 homes sold during the first six months of 2014 in the Sequim market, from the Jefferson County line to McDonnell Creek, a tick up from the 312 sold in the first half of 2013.
Average price paid for a home in Sequim rose as well, from $221,000 in 2013 to $248,627 this year.
Port Angeles home sales fell from 223 in the first half of 2013 to 204 in this year’s first half.
Prices in Port Angeles, from McDonnell Creek to Joyce, dropped from $194,786 to $172,143.
Sales were also up in Forks, where the 17 homes sold through the first half of 2014 was up from the 14 sold in the first half of 2013.
Average price for a Forks home sale fell, however, from $175,913 in 2013 to $137,164 in 2014.
The number of homes on the market in Forks is up, with 49 houses listed compared to the 38 listed at the end of June 2013.
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Sequim-Dungeness Valley Editor Joe Smillie can be reached at 360-681-2390, ext. 5052, or at jsmillie@peninsuladailynews.com.