'07 home prices not so bad after all

With all the dismal national news about home sales, wasn't 2007 supposed to be the year the local real-estate market died?

Well, surprise. Although home sales indeed were down 14.5 percent in King County and the number of for-sale homes was up almost 9 percent, prices more than held their own.

Compared with 2006, the county's single-family home prices climbed 7.1 percent last year, according to the Northwest Multiple Listing Service's annual report released Tuesday. King County's condominium prices appreciated 12.4 percent.

These trends were mostly repeated in surrounding Puget Sound counties. For more on them, plus graphics showing other highlights from the annual report, see the attached graphic.