Local home values hang on as sales decline

How real-estate market is performing in South Sound

By Rolf Boone | The Olympian • Published July 06, 2008

Thurston County home sales are down, building activity has tapered off and more people have fallen behind on mortgage payments, according to newly compiled data for the first half of the year.

The data raise new questions about the vitality of the county's real-estate market, but South Sound real-estate experts say the county still has job growth, low unemployment and population growth to stimulate home sales. The housing market also has slowed since 2006, which was a record year for home sales, yet Thurston County homes continue to hold their values.

In May, for example, the median price of a Thurston County single-family residence and condominium was $264,000, nearly unchanged from the $265,475 median price recorded last year, according to the Northwest Multiple Listing Service.

By comparison, home values fell more steeply in nearly every Western Washington county in May, including King and Pierce. Kitsap County home values fell more than 14 percent in the same year-over-year period, Northwest MLS data show.

Housing market

Through the first six months of this year, Thurston County home sales have fallen more than 20 percent compared with the same period last year, from 2,068 units to 1,579.

Although the Thurston County real-estate market is considered a buyer's market, there still is some apprehension among buyers because of the national economy, Northwest MLS area services manager Jerry Wilkins said.

Real-estate agent Phil Sharp says that homes listed near the median price are selling much more quickly than those listed above it.

"Houses definitely have to be priced lower to move it," added agent Catherine Haag, who has worked in the South Sound real-estate business for 15 years.

She said one Olympia homeowner she has worked with is resigned to losing money, having lowered the home-sale price below what her client paid for the home.

Haag also has been trying to sell acreage in rural Thurston County for about seven months.

Prospective buyers, on the other hand, have plenty to choose from, she said.