As home sales dropped in south Snohomish County, affordability increased

Home prices got more affordable across all neighborhoods and housing types in South Snohomish County last year. The median sale price for the year dropped from $415,000 to $385,000 and has continued to fall from its height in July 2007.

The sluggish housing market was also evident in the volume of sales, which dropped dramatically from its peak three years earlier. Just 2,744 houses sold in South Snohomish County in 2008 compared to almost 8,000 in 2005.

South Mukilteo, an area that includes the upscale Harbour Pointe development and many view properties, remained the most expensive neighborhood in the county, with the median-priced home selling for $580,000 last year. But the same neighborhood also saw one of the steepest declines in home prices, falling 10 percent compared to sales in 2007.

Mill Creek, another relatively affluent neighborhood, saw the median home price drop almost $40,000, from $572,500 in 2007 to $535,000 in 2008.

But when measured in price per square foot, an analysis used by The Seattle Times because it better reflects the amount of house purchased for the money, some neighborhoods actually saw slight appreciations in value, even though the median sale price fell. Both the Clearview/Maltby area and Norma Beach gained 1 percent in value.

The Times analysis comes less than a month before new property valuations are to be mailed by the county assessor.

"Generally speaking, the majority of property values are going down this year, but it's very specific to individual properties, location and characteristics," said Assessor Cindy Portmann.

Everett, with its large stock of smaller, older houses, remained the most affordable part of South Snohomish County with a median price of $260,000 in 2008. It's the only neighborhood where someone making the county's median household income of $67,324 in 2008 could buy the median-priced home.

But with a median sale price last year of $385,000, the county was still more affordable than neighboring King County where the median home sold for $445,000 last year.

In the first three months of this year, home prices in the county were down 12 percent over the first quarter of 2008.

But sales have picked up since February, although most of the recent ones are to first-time buyers paying $350,000 or less, said Lena Maul, broker-owner of the Lynnwood office of Windermere Real Estate. She said many sellers at the high end are still waiting out the slump, hoping the high values of 2006 and 2007 return.

"The change in the market is not only mathematical, but also emotional," Maul said. "Even if homeowners have fabulous equity, it's taking some time for them to get over the fact that their house isn't worth what it was two years ago."

Maul said the county remains a bargain.

"Snohomish County still has the affordability that the Eastside and in-city Seattle neighborhoods don't."

Lynn Thompson: 206-464-8305 or lthompson@seattletimes.com