Local home sales brisk but prices still sluggish

A dwindling inventory of homes continues in many Puget Sound area neighborhoods, increasing the number of sales but not the overall price of homes.

According to the latest figures released by the Northwest Multiple Listing Service, members reported 3,846 closed sales last month, up about 25 percent from the year-ago total of 3,080 completed transactions. King County buyers closed on 1,230 houses, up 23 percent from February 2011.

There were 6,069 pending sales in King, Snohomish, Pierce and Kitsap counties, up from 4,767 a year ago.

The lack of supply has yet to bring an area-wide leap in sales prices. The median price for a King County home was $308,125, down 8 percent from a year ago and nearly 36 percent from 2007. Seattle-area homes were up about 3 percent from last year to $365,000.

Low inventories are bound to begin pushing up prices in more neighborhoods. However, many sellers who would like to sell cannot because they owe more than the value of their homes. When values rise, this “shadow inventory” will increase the number of homes for sale but could curtail price gains.