In July, 284 homes sold, down slightly from the more than 300 that sold in June, combined single-family residence and condominium data show. July’s total home sales also were lower than the 322 units that sold in July 2008, according to the data.
Still, the pipeline of homes about to sell continues to grow, with pending sales rising more than 13 percent to 396 units last month from 349 units in July 2008, the combined data show. Year-over-year median prices also remained fairly stable, falling 4.42 percent to $245,000 in July 2009 from $256,326 in July 2008, while the total number of homes for sale also continues to fall. Since July 2008, total active listings have dropped more than 16 percent to 1,881 units from 2,249 units, the combined data show.
One explanation for the home-sales drop from June to July was the long July 4 holiday weekend, real-estate agent Blake Knoblauch said Wednesday. Knoblauch, of Greene Realty Group, expects sales to pick up in August and September as first-time buyers take advantage of the $8,000 tax-credit program before it expires later this year, he said.
Although there were fewer sales last month, Coldwell Banker Evergreen Olympic Realty real-estate agent Bob Jorgenson has stayed busy, recently selling one house in about 10 days and one more in about two weeks, he said. Jorgenson said that if a house is priced to the current market, it will sell. If not, it could be a different story, he said.
“There are still individuals who choose to try a house on the market at a higher price, and it stays on the market for 12 months,” Jorgenson said. “Some sellers are not realistic in the beginning.”
Knoblauch, citing his own statistics, thinks that a house priced correctly is taking an average of about 38 days to sell, while it is taking an average of about 97 days for an overpriced house to sell, he said.
Knoblauch said the Thurston County housing market is poised for a turnaround.
“I think we’re ready,” he said. “We’re going to start to see median prices level off and slowly start to creep up.”
Rolf Boone: 360-754-5403
