Mercer Island home sales begin to grow again

Prices of homes countywide are returning to their 2007 peak, according to the Northwest Multiple Listing Service.

Activity levels and prices for Mercer Island residential real estate are beginning to look more and more like 2007. Across King County, the $427,000 median sale price of single-family homes sold last month is looking a lot like the record median home price of $455,000 in 2007, achieved just before the recession hit.

According to data from the Northwest Multiple Listing Service, the number of new listings on Mercer Island for both homes and condos remains somewhat low compared to previous years, but the total number of active listings was beginning to trend back to more normal Island levels. There were 106 active listings last month, just nine less than June of a year ago. The number of pending sales, however, was up by 17 percent over a year ago, from 41 in 2012 to 48 last month. The number of sales that were finalized in June was up by more than 40 percent over June 1012, for a total of 50 homes and condos sold.

Condos remained a tiny portion of the Mercer Island real estate market. Just one new condo listing was added in June. A total of three were active on the market here. In contrast, nine were active in June of 2012. Just four condo sales were finalized last month, three less than in 2012. The median price for those four units was $337,000, up from $240,000 a year ago.

The number of single-family homes on the Island added to the market totaled 46, down from 60 listed in June of last year. Yet more homes sales were pending and more sales were finalized. Forty-six home sales were finalized last month, up from 28 in June of 2102. The median price declined by four percent for the most recent sales, landing at a median price of $977,000.

At present, there are 102 homes and condos offered for sale on Mercer Island. Just three of those listings are for condominiums. They range in price from a two-bed and two-bath, 1,000-square-foot unit in the Carlton offered at $389,000 to a one-bedroom, one-bath, 645-square-foot unit at 2949 76th Ave. S.E., priced at $239,000.

The 99 single-family homes listed for sale as of July 5 range from $16.75 million to $550,000 for a 1,200-square-foot cottage with a basement. The home was built in 1918 on just shy of two-thirds of an acre along West Mercer Way.

Just 20 homes are listed for $1 million or less.