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Median Thurston home price drops; sales up

REAL ESTATE: Agents say increased business should continue next year

BY ROLF BOONE | The Olympian • Published December 04, 2009

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The median sales price of a Thurston County home fell to the lowest point of the year in November, down 6.23 percent since January 2009 and down 8.87 percent since November 2008, according to Northwest Multiple Listing Service data released Thursday.

The median price last month was $225,000, down from $246,900 in November 2008, the combined single-family residence and condominium data show. Since January, median prices have fallen from $239,950 to $225,000, the data show.

Lower prices recently have helped to stimulate home sales in the South Sound housing market, but that downward pressure on home prices also has provided an added challenge for home sellers.

Home sales last month rose to 277 units from 177 units in November 2008, while fewer homes were listed for sale last month than a year ago, the combined single-family residence and condominium data show. In November, 328 homes were newly listed for sale, compared with 337 in November 2008.

Although mortgage interest rates remain low and tax-credit homebuyer incentives recently were extended, South Sound real-estate professionals say they aren’t sure when home prices will rise again.

Real-estate agent Mark Kitabayashi thinks there won’t be price appreciation until the foreclosure problem bottoms out, and another wave of foreclosures could be on the way, he said. Thurston County Realtors Association president Mark Steves agreed Thursday, saying another batch of adjustable-rate mortgages, in which mortgage interest rates adjust higher, could come in 2010 or 2011.

“It’s going to take a while,” Steves said about a return to price appreciation.

Real-estate agent Bob Jorgenson added that with so many existing undeveloped home lots in the county, prices will be lowered to sell those lots, followed by new houses on those lots at lower prices .

A typical new house now measures about 1,800 to 2,000 square feet, down from 2,200 to 2,600 square feet when the housing market was more active a few years ago, Kitabayashi said.

Prices for that new construction also are below $250,000 as a result; they used to be higher, Kitabayashi said.

Still, homes continue to sell in this market, and more would be sold if the job market were better, Steves said.

“That’s the only thing holding us back,” he said.

Steves said he thinks that more homes would have been sold to first-time buyers this year, but the $8,000 tax-credit program caught on just as it was set to expire last month. However, the program since has been extended and expanded. First-time buyers still can qualify for $8,000, and existing homeowners can qualify for $6,500 if the house is under contract by April 30 and closes escrow by June 30, Steves said.

Home sales typically slow during the holidays, but the tax-credit extension should help next year’s housing market get off to a good start, Kitabayashi said.

“We’re hoping it will pick back up in the spring,” he said.

Rolf Boone: 360-754-5403 rboone@theolympian.com