Local homes-sales report for July brings some hope

An increase in the number of home sales, coupled with selling prices that rose to their highest level in nearly a year, were among the hopeful signs for the local resale housing market in July, according to a report released Thursday by the Pikes Peak Association of Realtors.

Highlights of the report include:

• Sales: They totaled 946 last month, a 6.8 percent gain from 886 in July 2008. It was the second straight monthly increase; previously, sales had declined in every month except one dating back to May 2006. Through the first seven months of the year, sales totaled 4,840, down 6.6 percent from the same period in 2008. Sales figures include transactions handled by association members, but not homes sold by owners. Most of the sales took place in El Paso and Teller counties.

• Prices: The median price of homes sold in July was $199,675, a 10.8 percent decline from $223,950 in the same month last year. Last month’s median price, however, was the highest since the $200,000 reported for September 2008.. The median is the mid-point of all prices; last month, half of the homes sold in the Pikes Peak region carried price tags of less than $199,675 and the other half were more. Experts regard the median price as a more accurate barometer than the average, which can be skewed by a few very high or low prices.

• Supply: There were 5,135 homes listed for sale by real estate agents in July, down 21.5 percent from the same month last year. Real estate experts have said a dwindling supply will help stabilize prices.

• What’s hot: Of July sales, about two-thirds of homes sold for $250,000 or less, said Rick Van Wieren, a real estate agent with Re/Max Properties in Colorado Springs. That statistic underscores an ongoing demand for lower-priced homes; the federal government’s $8,000 tax credit for first-time buyers is one reason lower priced homes are selling, experts have said.

­—

Contact the writer at 636-0228