Spokane home sales strong in October, but prices down

Home sales in Spokane during October were the strongest for that month since 2007, but that didn’t translate into higher prices, the Spokane Association of Realtors reported.

The month produced 529 single-family home sales, the third-highest monthly total this year and up from September’s 497.

But the average home price was down 3 percent from September’s $184,722. The median price of October sales was down 7.2 percent, said Rob Higgins, the association’s chief executive.

Many other regions of the country have seen that same price softening, said Glenn Crellin, associate director for research at Runstad Center for Real Estate Studies at the University of Washington.

Crellin said as more homeowners conclude it’s the right time to sell or move to larger or smaller residences, they create a market oversupply. That condition causes prices to fall slightly, he said.

The overall trend, Higgins said, is still positive. Spokane’s median home price for the first 10 months this year is $165,000, up 3.2 percent from $159,000 for the same period last year.

A big part of the upbeat housing market is the 24 percent spike in homes sold this year, Higgins said. So far in 2013, 4,680 homes have sold, compared to 3,759 for the same period last year.

Higgins noted that the pace of home sales has cut the number of homes on the market by 5.5 percent compared to September. Still, the October inventory of homes on the market – 2,594 – is 100 more than in October 2012.

New homes sold during October totaled 66, compared to 55 in September. Almost half of the new homes sold – 29 – were in Spokane Valley and Liberty Lake, the association said.