While entry-level buyers dominated sales earlier in the year due to the tax credit, move-up buyers have a growing presence in the market, according to OB Jacobi, another NWMLS director. Commenting on October activity, Jacobi, the president of Windermere Real Estate Company, said during the first quarter, homes priced at $500,000 or more made up less than a quarter (23%) of all home sales in King County. Since mid-year, his analysis shows $500,000-plus homes have accounted for over a third of all sales (34%). 

NWMLS members reported 4,072 closed sales during October, reflecting the slower pace of pending sales. Last month's closed sales, which include single family homes and condominiums, had a median selling price of $255,932. That area-wide figure is down about 5.2% from twelve months ago.

In King County, the median price for last month's sales of single family homes and condominiums (combined) was $350,000, about the same as the year-ago figure of $349,950. Seven other counties also reported price gains from a year ago. They include Clark, Ferry, Grant, Kittitas, Lewis, Mason, and Okanogan.

Inventory remained plentiful, despite the addition of fewer new listings during October than during the same month a year-ago.

Brokers added 8,212 new listings to the MLS system last month, including 7,039 single family homes and 1,173 condominiums. That total is down from a year ago, when members added 9,344 new listings.

With October's new listings, there were 39,677 active listings in the NWMLS database at month end, an increase of nearly 4% from the year-ago selection that totaled 38,159 listings.

Wilson noted there is considerable variation across the NWMLS service area when measuring the months supply of homes (a barometer of how long it would take for the entire inventory of active listings to sell given recent sales activity and assuming no new listings were to appear on the market).

Sellers need to be realistic, Wilson emphasized, noting on average 27% of listings sell within the first 30 days and 46% of listings either take more than six months or don't sell at all. "This is why it is critical to price your home correctly right out of the gate when it is being seen by the most buyers," he explained.

The advice to buyers has not changed either, according to Wilson. With interest rates low and inventory fairly abundant, prospective owners should be prepared to make an offer if they see an appealing house that has just been listed.

In a statement accompanying a report last week on existing home sales across the U.S., Lawrence Yun, chief economist for the National Association of REALTORS®, said the housing market is in the early stages of recovery. "A housing recovery is taking place, but will be choppy at times depending on the duration and impact of a foreclosure moratorium. But the overall direction should be a gradual rising trend in home sales with buyers responding to historically low mortgage interest rates and very favorable affordability conditions," he said.