Same story: NWMLS sales up, prices lagging

A total of 5,180 homes listed by the Northwest Multiple Listing Service sales were closed in July, an increase of 15.3 percent from the same month in 2010 when 4,491 sales closed.

“It’s classic good-news, bad-news story,” said Frank Wilson, Northwest MLS director and branch managing broker at John L. Scott Real Estate in Poulsbo. “The good news is that we seem to be at the bottom. The bad news is we are just sitting there. Although homes are still selling, and in some cases at the asking price and in a reasonable amount of time, these are isolated to specific price ranges and geographic areas.”

The median price on July closed sales was $237,975, about 13.5 percent less than a year ago when the median selling price was $274,990. The King County median price was $319,000 (average price $410,618; 2,072 closings), the Snohomish County median price was $225,000 (average price $247,771; 851 closings) and the Pierce County median price was $194,972 (average price $227,299; 838 closings).

Northwest MLS members added 9,626 new listings of single family homes and condominiums during the month, the fewest since February, and a drop of more than 11 percent from the year-ago total of 10,850 new listings.