Published January
2003
Home
sales up, but so
are number of days
spent on market
By
Mike Benbow
Herald Business Editor
Overall, the residential
real estate market in Snohomish County looked strong again in November,
with listings, sales, pending sales and prices all exceeding 2001’s comparable
numbers, the Northwest Multiple Listing Service reported.
But the details released
by the service, which represents Realtors in 14 Washington counties, paint
a conflicting local picture.
While sales totals
are up throughout the county, the time it takes to sell a particular house
has increased — dramatically in some areas — a sure sign that things are
slowing down.
Take the U.S. 2 communities
of Snohomish, Monroe and Gold Bar, for example. In 2001, there were 63
homes sold there in November, and they sold in an average of 56 days.
In November 2002, sales were up to 83, but it took nearly three weeks
longer — 75 days — for the average sale.
Homes in the Stanwood,
Marysville and Arlington areas also spent a lot more time on the market
in November — 63 days in 2002 compared to 52 in November 2001. Homes in
the Granite Falls, Lake Stevens and Darrington areas sold in an average
of 62 days in 2002 compared to 55 days in 2001.
As usual, homes closer
to King County sold the quickest. In Lynnwood, Edmonds and Mountlake Terrace,
for example, homes sold in 55 days this past November compared to 40 in
November 2001. Mill Creek and Mukilteo posted similar numbers, likely
because of the price gap between homes in Snohomish and King counties.
The combined median
price for condos and single-family homes sold in Snohomish County in November
was $218,000, a 9 percent increase from the November 2001 figure of $199,950.
Median means half the homes sold for more and half sold for less.
In King County, the
median was $252,000, a less than 2 percent hike from the $247,500 median
of November 2001.
The price break here
helped boost sales to 984 homes, a strong increase from 2001’s November
sales of 722. The number of pending sales — where sellers have accepted
an offer that has yet to go through closing — totaled 1,001, a 34 percent
increase from November 2001’s numbers.
The listing service
said brokers it had contacted attributed the numbers to continued low
mortgage rates, good inventory and rising confidence in the economy.
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