Here’s the good news for home sales in the Puget Sound area last year: The number of sales completed last year rose by more than 7 percent.
Now, the bad news if you were a seller: The median prices, propelled by short sales and transactions of distressed homes owned by banks, fell by more than 9.8 percent in that same period. New figures from the Northwest Multiple Listing Service show home sales numbers were up 12.67 percent in Pierce County and 9.07 percent in King County.
But the average price in those two counties dropped significantly, the NWMLS said. In Pierce County, median sales prices declined by 11.8 percent to $194,000; in King County, the median sales prices fell to $340,000, off 9.33 percent.
Washington Property Solutions, a short sale negotiating firm, said distressed and short sales homes amounted to more than 50 percent of property sales transactions last year in Pierce County. About a third of sales in King County were those same kinds of distressed and short sales homes.
The large number of short sales and distressed sales brought down median prices, Washington Property Solutions said. Short sales homes typically sell for prices 5 percent to 10 percent below the prices of comparable conventional sales, the company said. Bank-owned homes, which often suffer from neglect and deferred maintenance, are priced even lower.
The median price of all single-family bank-owned homes in Pierce County was $150,000. Those properties ranged from an 800-square-foot home on the East Side that sold for $25,000 to a 5,500-square-foot home in Gig Harbor that sold for $930,000. Twenty-eight bank-owned properties in Pierce County sold for $500,000 or more.
In Thurston County, both the median price and the number of sales declined last year over 2010. The median price was off 4.56 percent to $219,500 while sales numbers fell to 2,625, down 5.20 percent.
John Gillie: 253-597-8663 john.gillie@thenewstribune.com $25 billion mortgage deal goes to states
The nation’s five largest mortgage lenders have agreed to overhaul their industry after deceptive foreclosure practices drove homeowners out of their homes, government officials said Monday. A draft settlement between the banks and U.S. states has been sent to state officials for review.
Those who lost their homes to foreclosure are unlikely to get their homes back or benefit much financially from the settlement, which could be as high as $25 billion. About 750,000 Americans – about half of the households who might be eligible for assistance under the deal – will likely receive checks for about $1,800.
But the agreement could reshape long-standing mortgage lending guidelines and make it easier for those at risk of foreclosure to restructure their loans.
The Associated Press
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