We’ve already hit the bottom and we are no longer there.

So say real estate professionals who have reviewed the latest numbers, out Monday, from the Northwest Multiple Listing Service.

“It appears that we’ve seen the bottom, and we’re starting to climb out,” said Bill Riley, an owner of GMAC Real Estate in Puyallup and president-elect of Washington Realtors.

“People now know they can buy a house and it will be worth more down the road,” he said Monday. “I wasn’t sure last month, but we are definitely in an upswing. There’s a possibility we can see the price of homes increase in 2009.”

According to Northwest MLS, which tracks real estate activity in 19 Washington counties:

 • Pending home sales were up 31.09 percent in Pierce County in September when compared to September 2008. There were 1,303 pending sales in the county last month, up from 994 the years before.

 • The median price of homes sold in the county last month was $221.600, down 8.41 percent from $241,950 in September 2008.

 • The county saw 1,513 new listings in September, down from 1,689 a year before.

 • There were 5,720 active listings in the county last month, down 25.81 percent from the year before.

 • There were 838 sales that closed in September, up from 763 in 2008.

 • Throughout the region, pending sales were up 26.73 percent and the median price, $273,000, was down 7.46 percent over the past 12 months.

According to Dick Beeson, a Windermere broker and a director of Northwest MLS, the latest numbers reflect “a lot of pent-up demand. A lot more people are realizing closed sales.”

The demand for homes, he said Monday, “is there. It’s just getting the darn things to the point where they’re actually closing – and that’s starting to happen. I think it’s pretty close to a trend. More people are getting into the market and off the fence.”

Much of the activity is occurring in the market for homes priced below $250,000, Beeson said.

“The upper side is still suffering,” he said. “There are homes being sold – 1,096 over $300,000 in the last six months in Pierce County. But it is definitely a $250,000-or-less market right now.”

“I just listed a house last Monday in Oakbrook for $380,000,” said Theresa Bastian, a Realtor with Keller Williams in Tacoma. “I was a little unsure of the price. It went pending four days later. I think we are seeing what I would describe as a true uptick in buyer activity.”

Bastian credits a renewed optimism among buyers.

“I think the shock of the economy has worn off,” she said. “People are not living in fear.”

Along the September numbers, Riley sees a fresh – and lately unfamiliar – problem ahead.

“We’re going to see a serious shortage in 2011 or 2012. I just keep hearing that,” he said. “Because we haven’t put any new inventory in the market, because builders can’t get financing, there’s going to be a serious impact on supply.”

C.R. Roberts: 253-597-8535

c.r.roberts@thenewstribune.com