Real estate sales hit ‘monumental threshold’

Sales figures for Spokane County’s residential real estate market hit a milestone last month that indicates the hot pace shows little sign of slowing down.

For the first time, more than $1 billion worth of homes has changed hands in a year. And that figure doesn’t include sales that will close in December. November statistics show that 517 sales are currently pending.

“It’s clearly a monumental threshold,” said Glenn Crellin, director of the Washington Center for Real Estate Research at Washington State University. “Beyond that, it’s simply a reflection of the time.”

Real estate markets typically slow down after fall arrives, school starts and the cold sets in, but not here, not this year. On Wednesday afternoon, one of the county’s most successful Realtors was juggling cell phone calls.

“It’s supposed to slow down before Christmas,” said Denise Fox of Coldwell Banker Northwest Group.

Instead, Fox said the recent activity has contributed to her most successful year in 30 years of selling. The upper end market has really driven activity, with many out-of-state buyers coming from California and elsewhere. Fox said she’s sold several million-dollar homes this year, something that hasn’t happened in such great numbers before.

“We’ve had an extraordinary year, not just in Spokane but around the state of Washington,” Crellin said. Low interest rates coupled with a strengthening economy have led to high sales, he said.

Fox and Sandy Alderman, president of Spokane’s Association of Realtors said other factors driving sales include the state’s lack of income tax and slower-paced lifestyle.

“A lot of times people are searching for places with less-crowded conditions,” Alderman said.

Last year, sales volume hit $969 million, a 24 percent increase from the year prior. The areas of the county contributing the most to the high volume this year are Spokane Valley and Liberty Lake, the South Hill and northwest Spokane. So far this year, 6,868 homes have been sold.

To keep the statistics in perspective, 45,000 homes change hands yearly in King County, which saw homes sales of $17.8 billion last year. Spokane County ranked fourth in number of homes sold last year, statewide, Crellin said. The median selling price here is $128,900, through November, compared to $330,000 in King County.

But that is changing as the hot pace continues. The median price rose 9 percent last year and so far this year, it’s up 8 percent. Crellin expects that to continue next year as well, rising perhaps another 5 percent. That would place the median price in the $135,000 range.

“It’s still a market that is extraordinarily affordable,” Crellin said.