Condos hot while overall area housing market cools

While the number of Puget Sound area homes for sale continues to build and appreciation moderates, local condominium sales are doing well.

Bucking the slowing appreciation trend the most were condominiums in Snohomish County, which saw a 19.6 percent increase in median sales price last month compared to a year earlier, June statistics released today by the Northwest Multiple Listing Service showed.

That put the median price of Snohomish County condos at $253,500 last month, just $26,750 less than the median price paid for condos in King County. The latter appreciated 12.1 percent year over year.

This price difference between the two counties is markedly greater for single-family houses. In King County last month, the median price of single-family homes was $470,000, or roughly $88,000 more than the $381,719 median price paid in Snohomish County for detached houses.

Median means half sell for more, half for less.

Last month King County had 12,282 houses and condos on the market, a 53.3 percent increase over a year earlier and about 1,000 more than in May.

This gives King County a 3.2 month supply of for-sale housing, which the MLS says means that if no other houses come on the market it would take 3.2 months to sell available inventory. That's half the national average of 6.8 months.

Snohomish County had 61 percent more inventory than a year earlier, Pierce County had 53.1 percent more, while Kitsap County's increased by 37.8 percent.

In King and Snohomish counties, single-family houses appreciated less than condos; up 8.1 percent last month in King County, up 9.1 percent in Snohomish County.

The majority of King County's single-family homes sold for $200,000 to $600,000, with sales strongest in the $400,000 to $600,000 range. Seven percent of sales were in the $1 million-plus range.

The median price of Kitsap County single-family homes was $284,950last month, a 6.7 percent increase year over year.

Of the four central Puget Sound counties, Pierce County posted the lowest appreciation: just 1.4 percent compared to the previous June. Its median single-family house price was $279,900 last month.

Elizabeth Rhodes: erhodes@seattletimes.com