Real Estate Market Shows New Strength August Home Sales Exceed Year-Ago Total In Spokane County

(From For the Record, September 11, 1997:) Incorrect number: A graphic in Wednesday’s Business section incorrectly listed the total dollar value of 1997 home sales in the Spokane area. The year-to-date figure should have been $354.1 million.

For the first time this year, more homes were sold in Spokane County last month than in the same month the previous year.

August posted closed sales of 492 homes, a whopping 24 percent higher than the 396 sold in August 1996, according to the Spokane Association of Realtors’ Multiple Listing Service.

The strong August showing supports Realtors’ contentions that the market is picking up and could outpace last year. This year’s market is catching up, with just 79 fewer homes sold this year than last.

“I usually look at summer months as being vacation time, with real-live buyers fewer and farther between. But it was a real lively month,” said Ron Phillips, a Realtor with Tomlinson Black’s North Side office.

Though Realtors have reason to celebrate the strong August showing, it was easy to top last August, which fell behind its 1995 counterpart by more than 27 percent. Last year started with a bang, then tapered off in June and never picked up speed again.

“Last August, it seemed like somebody really put the brakes on the market,” said Bruce Hardie, of Coldwell Banker Grand. “My gut feeling is we’re going to end up close to last year.”

Other Realtors echoed that thought, saying the market has settled into a steady pace, after its sharp dropoff following the boom years of the early 1990s.

“I think people need to realize the market’s not down. We just had that big bubble in there,” Phillips said. “The bottom didn’t fall out. Things have settled back to a standard market.”

Greg Benner, president of the Spokane Association of Realtors, said year-to-date figures tell the most accurate story about the market.

This year, through August, 3,056 homes sold for an average price of $115,882. Homes stayed on the market an average of 78 days. A year ago, 3,135 homes sold for an average price of $114,312. Homes took an average of 77 days to sell.

“Spokane is enjoying a steady and active housing market,” Benner said.

This year’s fourth quarter should outpace last years, Realtors say, considering last year’s early winter and damaging ice storm.

“That really blew our socks off last year,” said Sandy Alderman, a Realtor with Coldwell Banker Corrado Realty. “It took us a long time to dig our way out of that.”

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Graphic: Home sales