Published February 2001

Report: Home prices continue to rise as sales cool

By Mike Benbow
Herald Economy Editor

December was a typically slow month for real estate sales in Snohomish County, but one statistic stands out: Single-family home prices rose significantly from the previous year.

The median price for single-family homes sold in the county in December was $199,950, nearly 8 percent higher than in December 1999. Median means half the homes sold cost more and half cost less.

While that doesn’t mean a particular home, yours for example, rose 8 percent in value during 2000, it is an indication that home values are still rising and the county’s tight housing market isn’t going away.

What’s considered an affordable home for the average working person — those priced at $160,000 or less — is becoming an increasingly endangered species here.

Condos also are doing more than just holding their own. The median price for condos alone in December was $147,000, up more than 8 percent from the $136,000 median for the same month in 1999.

The combined median price for detached houses and condos in the county in December was $193,961.

While home prices generally have continued to rise, home sales have cooled. It took 60 days to sell the average home in the county in December, five days longer than in December 1999.

The most expensive homes, as usual, were in the Maltby area near the King County line, where the median price was $259,900. That’s almost $50,000 more than the next highest-priced area, which includes Edmonds, Lynnwood and Mountlake Terrace, where the median price was $209,950.

The lowest median price was in the area that includes Stanwood, Arlington and Marysville, which had a median price of $169,950.

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