Home sale prices jump

Median price for single family homes sold in May jumps by 19 percent.

The number of single family homes for sale on Mercer Island fell by one-quarter in May, down 32 homes from the same month a year ago.

But the news is good. The number of homes sold during the month increased while the number of homes pending final sale held steady.

The number of closed sales for May were up by over one-quarter from a year ago to 34. The median price for final sales for the month was up by nearly 20 percent. In May of 2011, the median price for closed home sales was $718,000; for this past month, the median price was $855,000.

There were 31 pending sales for the month.

The number of condominiums on the market here fell precipitously to just 10 units in May. A year ago, there were 22. But similar to the trend for single family homes, the number of condos sold for the month was significantly higher than a year ago. In May of 2011, just four condos sold. This past month, the amount doubled to eight. The median amount for closed sales of condos last month was $264,400. In May 2011, the median price for the four that sold was $192,500.

As of June 11, 111 Island properties were listed for sale. Eleven were condominiums. They range in price from $170,000 for a 645-square-foot condo to $1 million for a 3,400-square-foot unit.

A dozen single family homes on the Island were offered for sale at $5 million and above. Of those, two waterfront homes were listed at just under $19 million. There are just four single family homes priced at $500,000 or less.