Home prices in Pierce County continued to fall in September, dropping to $241,950, a 10.4 percent decline from September 2007.

Home sales in Pierce County and around the country have been falling for the last year, though prices here declined less than elsewhere.

The median home price in Pierce County in September 2007 was $269,925. August’s median in Pierce County was $250,975. (Median price means that half of all homes sold for more and half for less.)

Real estate agents continue to say that this is a good time to buy, with lower prices, low interest rates and more selection available to shoppers.

For the four-county Puget Sound region (King, Snohomish, Pierce and Kitsap counties) the median price for last month’s sales dropped from $349,950 to $324,000, a decline of 7.4 percent.

In a report issued Monday, the NWMLS managed to find a positive in September’s data, headlining the fact that the number of pending sales (deals made but not closed) rose 4.1 percent over September a year ago.

According to the NWMLS, the last uptick in pending sales was February 2007 when it reported a 4.8 percent gain from the previous year.

In Pierce County, the increase in pending sales was especially dramatic, rising from 723 a year ago to 916 last month, a 21.8 percent surge.

“Those numbers indicate the work we did last month and will show up in next month’s numbers,” said Virgil Wells, president of the Tacoma-Pierce County Association of Realtors.

The number of home sales that actually closed, however, told a different story. Closed sales dropped from 6,262 in September 2007 to 4,877 last month in the 19 Washington counties the NWMLS represents. Closed sales in Pierce County dropped from 818 in September 2007 to 763 last month.

The inventory of available properties in Pierce County also declined over the previous year. There were 7,710 homes on the market last month, compared to 8,691 in September 2007.

Brokers blamed the recent economic turmoil for the drop in overall activity but also said there is a perceived difficulty in getting home loans.

“For people with good credit getting a loan is not a problem,” Wells said. “It depends on your credit score. Obviously there have been some buyers cut out of the market simply because there is no longer a potential for zero-down loans.”

Buyers waiting longer for the market to bottom out could be making a mistake, Wells said.

“A lot of it depends on what the stock market does in the next few weeks,” he said. “That, and who wins the elections in November. There are too many variables for me to be able to predict a bottom with any accuracy.”

“I think we just need to get the media to paint a positive picture,” Wells said. “The fact is, this is the best time for buyers to buy since 1996.

Wells said. “Inventory is high, prices have decreased and interest rates are low.”

Rob Carson: 253-597-8693

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