High Prices Slow Home Sales In June

Spokane County home sales plummeted in June, bringing in $15 million less this year than last.

Despite June’s poor showing, home sales for the year are still 7 percent ahead of last year. The figures report sales that closed in June, but represent activity from April and early May.

Through last month, 2,230 properties have sold, compared with 2,080 homes last year, according to the Multiple Listing Service of the Spokane Association of Realtors.

But last month, 13 percent fewer home sales closed, compared with the same month last year. The 430 homes sold in June 1996 dragged behind the 487 sold a year earlier.

Sales also volume dropped 27 percent, from $55.5 million in June 1995 to $40.5 million last month.

In part, many Realtors blame unrealistic selling prices for the drop in sales. The homes that are priced more reasonably are selling, they say, and the higher priced homes are not.

“If they list it on the high side, it’s probably not going to sell right away,” said Tom Crowley, president of the Realtors Association.

Also, with a huge inventory of homes and decent interest rates, it remains a buyers’ market, said Sandy Alderman, an associate broker at Coldwell Banker Corrado Realty.

Buyers are taking their time to find the right home. “The buyers want to see everything,” Alderman said.

Though homes on the South Hill took the longest to sell - an average of 82 days on the market - more homes sold there than anywhere else in the county. The 123 homes sold there also led the pack in price with an average of $134,734.

The smallest number of homes was sold in the Northeast part of the county, with 65 homes going for an average price of $75,960.

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Graphic: Home sales