Local sales outpace listings for first time in five years

For the first time since December 2006, the number of pending home sales surpassed the number of new listings in the Northwest Multiple Listing Service database.

NWMLS members reported 6,103 pending sales during November, marking the seventh straight month of double-digit, year-over-year increases. Last month’s total number of mutually accepted offers was 22.4 percent higher than the same month a year ago.

Despite the smaller selection, the listings, the median selling price was $225,000, down 10 percent from the year-ago median price of $250,000. Single-family home prices were off 8 percent from a year ago ($234,612 versus $255,000), while condo prices slipped more than 17 percent ($169,000 versus $204,500).

The average selling price of a King County home in November was $360,515.

Bank-owned homes continue to put downward pressure on pricing, reported Northwest MLS director Matt Deasy, general manager of Windermere Real Estate/East, Inc.

For the four-county Puget Sound region, a check of the Northwest MLS database shows more than one-fourth (26.8 percent) of the single-family homes that sold last month were classified as distressed, up from the year-ago figure of 21.9 percent.