Business & Tech

Mercer Island August Home Sales Continue Summer Buying Trend

Home buyers are continuing to purchase local homes at a rate of one-per-day since April.

, but homes on Mercer Island — particularly ones sold at under $1 million — are selling relatively well this summer in the depressed real estate market. 

According to the Northwest Multiple Listing Service (NWMLS), 31 single-family homes and condos sold in August on Mercer Island (Area 510) at a median price of $875,000. That's the most homes sold this late in the traditional summer buying season since 2007.

"There are in fact buyers out there," said Kris Robbs, an associate Broker at 's Mercer Island offices. "They are realizing that they can get into a home on Mercer Island much less expensively than in years past. With lower prices and interest rates down, young families see the possibility of getting their children into school here."

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Single-family homes sales — which make up the vast majority of local real estate sold — was also at it's highest level in 4 years at a median price of $929,500. In 2007, the median price for a single-family home was $925,000.

According to the NWMLS, the rate of home sales this summer is about 20 percent higher than at the same point in 2010, when the expiration of a homebuyer tax-credit may have affected sales. The sales are also up despite a smaller choice of homes to chose from, with only 147 homes listed for sale on Mercer Island last month. That's down from 201 in August 2010. 

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Home buyers are also making more offers than last year, said Managing Broker Cynthia Schoonmaker. There were 42 offers made to buy Mercer Island homes last month, compared with 39 a year ago.

While Mercer Island hasn't seen many multiple offer-situations, she said the local real estate market has been a summer of relatively brisk activity. But that activity hasn't caused overall sales prices to increase. When the entire year of sales is considered —including winter and spring months when sales prices and activity is usually lower — median prices have declined 20-30 percent since 2007 when a nationwide real-estate bubble began to deflate and the Great Recession began. 

"Pending sales up, but dollars are not," she said.


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