Sales of existing homes down in 4th quarter

The number of existing homes sold in Washington in the fourth quarter of 2010 was 21.5 percent lower than in the final three months of 2009, likely because of the end of federal tax credits, the Washington Center for Real Estate Research at Washington State University said Thursday.

Statewide home sales did go up in the fourth quarter over the third quarter, by 17.7 percent. But the loss of the federal tax credit program continued to weigh heavily on the state's real estate market, Crellin said.

For calendar year 2010, a total of 84,890 existing homes were sold in the state, an increase of just 0.1 percent over 2009, and the third consecutive year with about 85,000 sales. The number of existing homes sold has declined about 45 percent from the peak in 2005. The median price for all of 2010 was $246,300, 1.6 percent below 2009 and 20.4 percent below the 2007 record.

Among the 17 counties identified as metropolitan by the federal government, sales increased in the fourth quarter over the third in all but Cowlitz County, which was unchanged. Increases ranged from a low of 3.6 percent in Spokane County to a high of 23.6 percent in Pierce County.

Median prices in the fourth quarter ranged from a high of $495,000 in San Juan County to a low of $85,000 in Lincoln County.

Crellin noted that 11 of the metro counties reported lower prices while six experienced price increases in the fourth quarter, but that the increases might be attributed to buyers finding bargains in higher-priced homes.

Mortgage interest rates continued to decline until very late in the year and, when combined with generally lower home prices and generally stable income statistics, resulted in record high housing affordability, the center said.