KPLU Local News
(2009-07-06)
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SEATTLE, WA
(KPLU) -
The local real estate market may be starting to recover. For the first time in more than three years, the number of homes sold is up compared to last year in King County. That's the latest from the Northwest Multiple Listing Service. Sales closed on about four percent more homes in King County, and ten percent more in Seattle this June compared to last. Snohomish County sales were flat and Pierce County was only down slightly.
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"Those are all signs that the market may be stabilizing a bit," says Glenn Crellin, who directs the Washington Center for Real Estate Research at W-S-U. He says he's cautious because one month does not make a trend. But he says there's a lot of encouraging data in this report. Along with sales increasing, active listings are declining sharply. Crellin says that will eventually put pressure on demand -- the key to getting prices back up.
"And clearly the bad news in this release was that prices continued to decline relatively sharply. The median price in King County is 12% lower than the same time last year," Crellin says.
It's now at just over 363 thousand dollars - an increase from last month, but still a big drop from a year ago.
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