Home sales up, prices down in Western Washington

By Associated Press

Summary

Home sales in Western Washington are up for the first time in more than a year and a half, prices are down and the inventory of homes on the market is tighter.

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Story Published: Oct 6, 2008 at 11:47 AM PST

Story Updated: Nov 21, 2008 at 2:25 AM PST

Home sales up, prices down in Western Washington
KIRKLAND, Wash. (AP) - Home sales in Western Washington are up for the first time in more than a year and a half, prices are down and the inventory of homes on the market is tighter.

Those results for September were reported Monday by the Northwest Multiple Listing Service, a real estate consortium based in Kirkland. It covers all 16 counties west of the Cascades and three to the east - Kittitas, Grant and Okanogan.

Home sales in those counties rose nearly 4.1 percent in September and about a percentage point more, nearly 4.2 percent, in King County. The last monthly increase in home sales was 4.8 percent in February 2007.

The region's median sale price for single-family homes and condominiums fell last month by 8.3 percent to $295,000.