Median home prices in King County continue to fall compared to year ago

The number of pending single-family home sales in King County soared in April to its highest total since the housing market peaked in summer 2007, according to statistics released today by the Northwest Multiple Listing Service.

Pending sales — offers that have been accepted but haven't yet closed — numbered 2,114, up more than 25 percent from March and nearly 15 percent from April 2008.

The last time pending sales topped 2,000 in a month was in August 2007, according to listing-service records.

Brokers attributed the surge in sales to lower prices, lower mortgage interest rates and new incentives for first-time buyers. "We had our best month since September," said Kathy Estey, managing broker at the John L. Scott Bellevue office.

But she and others hesitated to say the market has turned a corner, noting sales of higher-priced homes remain sluggish.

The median price of single family houses sold in King County in April was $380,000, the broker-owned listing service said — down 15.3 percent from $448,500 for the same month last year, but up from $363,850 in March and $375,000 in February.

Increased buyer demand will help prices stabilize, said Ron Sparks, managing vice president of Coldwell Banker Bain: "We're seeing some progress in that direction."

Single-family home sales that closed in King County in April didn't keep pace with pending sales, increasing just 4 percent from March's totals but dropping 35 percent year-over-year.

King County condo sales fared worse than houses in April, according to the listing service, with pending sales down 8 percent from April 2008 and closed sales down a whopping 49 percent. The median sales price was $250,000, down more than 11 percent year-over-year.

In Snohomish County the median single-family home price in April was $299,950, down 14 percent from the same month a year ago. Pending sales were up 28 percent, closed sales down 22 percent.