Area home sale prices continue to decline

Average home sales prices in Spokane fell by 4.1 percent in October, in line with national and regional declines driven in part by foreclosures and high unemployment.
The Spokane sales number reflects regular sales and “distressed” sales – homes foreclosed by banks or sold by owners incapable of paying off a mortgage.
Excluding distressed home sales in October, Spokane’s average home sale price was 2.9 percent lower than in October 2010, according to CoreLogic, a national real estate data collector.
Coeur d’Alene home prices in October fell 10.3 percent; excluding distressed sales, Coeur d’Alene’s …

Average home sales prices in Spokane fell by 4.1 percent in October, in line with national and regional declines driven in part by foreclosures and high unemployment.

The Spokane sales number reflects regular sales and “distressed” sales – homes foreclosed by banks or sold by owners incapable of paying off a mortgage.

Excluding distressed home sales in October, Spokane’s average home sale price was 2.9 percent lower than in October 2010, according to CoreLogic, a national real estate data collector.

Coeur d’Alene home prices in October fell 10.3 percent; excluding distressed sales, Coeur d’Alene’s average sale price was 5.1 percent lower than in October 2010.

CoreLogic reported all U.S. home sales prices in October were 3.9 percent lower than a year earlier; excluding distressed sales, the average home sale price across the country was 0.5 percent lower than in October 2010.

Prices reflect a continuing rebalancing of supply and demand, said Mark Fleming, chief economist for CoreLogic.

The Spokane Association of Realtors reported slightly worse numbers for October. Spokane’s average price among 323 single-family homes and condos sold in October was 9.8 percent lower than a year earlier, said Rob Higgins, the association’s executive officer.

The median price for October home sales, compared with a year earlier, was down 3.8 percent, Higgins said.

Of October’s 323 home sales, 79, or roughly 24 percent, were distressed sales, Higgins noted.

A bright spot for Spokane is a trend toward fewer foreclosure sales, he added. Foreclosure sales in Spokane from August through October totaled 81, 87 and 65, respectively. The November total for foreclosed sales in Spokane was 63, Higgins said.

Of the top 100 U.S. metropolitan statistical areas measured by population, 78 are showing year-over-year sales price declines in October, two fewer than in September, CoreLogic reported.