Home prices decline for 12th straight month

The median price of a single-family home in King County continued to slide in January, the 12th consecutive month of declines, down just over 12 percent to $382,500 from $435,000 the same month a year earlier.

Figures released today by the Northwest Multiple Listing Service show similar activity throughout the Puget Sound region in January.

The median price for single-family homes in Snohomish County fell 14.27 percent from $365,000 to $312,900. In Pierce County, prices fell 11.79 percent from $266,397 to $235,000. In Snohomish, the drop was 15.65 percent, from $278,552 to $234,950.

The median condominium price, however, rose in every county but Kitsap, where it fell 40.66 percent from $299,900 to $177,975 compared to last January.

The median condo price rose 3.42 percent in King County, from $270,500 to $279,750. In Snohomish County they climbed 8.10 percent, from $224,999 to $243,225. And in Pierce they rose 3.41 percent from $205,000 to $212,000.

A National Association of Realtors report released earlier this week indicated that pending home sales, or signed contracts to buy existing homes, were up in December in many parts of the country. They were a mixed bag in the four-county region during January, with pending home sales up in Pierce and Kitsap counties and pending condominium sales up in Kitsap.

Pending single-family home sales and condominium sales fell in King County 5.39 percent and 25.22 percent, respectively. In Snohomish County, they slipped by 7.30 percent and 11.76 percent.

Inventory, the number of homes for sale, also fell from the previous January.

Karen Gaudette: 206-515-5618 or kgaudette@seattletimes.com