Both the average and median home sale price in King County rose in December compared with a month earlier but the number of sale closings in the county fell.

According to data compiled by Northwest Multiple Listing Service (NWMLS), the average sale price of a King County home rose to $425,058 from $415,581 a month earlier and the median sale price (half sold for more and half for less) rose to $350,000 from $337,000 in November.

That’s still down from a year earlier. In December 2008, an average King County home sold for $484,494 and the median sale price was $370,700. Closed sales in the county fell to 1,795 in the county last month compared with 2,025 in November.

Across the 21 Puget Sound area counties in the NWMLS survey, the average price of a sale rose slightly in December to $321,775 from $320,379 a month earlier and the median price stayed the same at $265,000.

Real estate brokers call the current real estate market “tough,” citing the uncertainty of the lending market, difficult appraisals and a large volume of foreclosures driving down prices. But some remain positive.

“With what our agents already have in the pipeline, I’m optimistic about a positive first quarter,” said NWMLS director Meribeth Hutchings, a broker at Windermere RE/Lake Stevens, in a statement.

Puget Sound Business Journal (Seattle)
seattle.bizjournals.com