Sales of single-family residences and condominiums fell 5.15 percent to 2,688 units from 2,843 units in 2010, the data show. Here's the Thurston County decline in home sales since 2007:
-2011: 2,688.
-2010: 2,834.
-2009: 2,938.
-2008: 3,175.
-2007: 4,180.
Median home prices, which includes single-family residences and condos, also fell 5.63 percent to $217,000 in 2011 from $229,950 in 2010. Median prices fell throughout Western Washington, the data show, although Thurston County had one of the lowest year-over-year price declines in the region. Median prices fell 10 percent in King County and 12 percent in Pierce County, the data show.
Other Thurston County data from the 2011 recap:
-If you purchased a single-family residence -- not a condo -- in 2003, it has appreciated in value more than 30 percent, rising to $219,500 in 2011 from $166,970 in 2003. However, if you purchased a single-family residence in 2007 or 2008 -- two years in which the median price was $265,000 -- it has fallen 17.1 percent in value to $219,500.
-There also are fewer real estate companies, offices and sales associates working in the county in the year-over-year period. The number of companies has fallen to 81 from 86; the number of offices to 83 from 89; and the number of sales associates has fallen 10 percent to 695 from 774.
-Four single-family residences sold for $1 million or more last year in the county, compared to 735 in King County and 23 in Pierce County.
-North Thurston was the most popular school district in the county last year, likely because it had one of the lowest median prices at $215,000, compared to $242,200 in Olympia and $229,950 in Tumwater. More than 980 single-family residences were sold in the North Thurston school district last year, followed by Olympia with 558 and Tumwater with 418.
