August was the best month for home sales in Snohomish County since April 2010, the month the nation’s homebuyer incentives expired.
There were 916 homes sold in the county last month, a 42.7 percent increase from August 2010, the Northwest Multiple Listing Service reported Tuesday.
The huge jump in sales isn’t a big surprise.
Pending sales were unusually high in July, mortgage rates were near record lows, and home prices were at 2004 levels,
Prices continued to fall in August.
The combined median sales price for single-family homes and condominiums last month was $232,000, down from $260,000 a year ago, or 10.8 percent.
Because of the low prices, many people who didn’t have to sell their homes now kept them off the market. Listings in the county totaled 4,425 homes in August, a 26 percent drop from a year ago.
Pending sales were also up in August, boding well for sales this month. There were 1,325 home sales started but not completed last month, a 46 percent increase from a year ago.
“For the first time in a long time, I can say with confidence that things feel better,” said OB Jacobi, president of Windermere Real Estate and a member of the listing service board of directors.
He noted that the pending sales numbers were compared to “last summer’s post-tax incentive doldrums,” but still indicate “positive momentum in the market.”
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