The number of home sales in the Spokane area through the first four months of this year didnt keep up with last years record pace, according to the Spokane Multiple Listing Service.


Sales prices, however, continued to climb, and as a result, the dollar volume of activity here so far this year is ahead of last years level.


Rob Higgins, executive vice president of the Spokane Association of Realtors, says the tapering off in sales activity so far this year follows five consecutive record years. Even though sales activity is off the record pace so far this year, If we stay at that level, it will be the second-best year weve ever had, he says.


Through April, 1,934 homes sales were reported in Spokane County, about 3 percent less than the 1,997 sales through April 2005. The number of sales through the first three months of this year outpaced the year-earlier period, but the number of sales in April fell to 548, compared with 643 in the year-earlier month.


Through the first four months of this year, however, the total dollar volume of sales activity jumped 19 percent to about $359.2 million, from $302.6 million in the year-earlier period.


Sales prices continued to climb steeply through the first four months of this year. The average price through April was $185,700, up 23 percent from the average of $151,500 in the year-earlier period.


The median sale price climbed 25 percent to $166,000, from $132,900. The median figure is the midpoint, with an equal number of sales above and below.


Higgins says he expects the Spokane market to continue to see upward pressure on housing prices through this year, but that should ease in coming years as the number of homes available for sale increases.


At the end of April, 1,759 homes were listed for sale in the MLS. Thats 29 percent above the inventory level a year earlier, when 1,364 homes were listed for sale.


While the number of available homes has increased substantially, the inventory still is lower than usual. At the end of April in 2003, for example, 2,109 homes were on the market. A year earlier, the inventory stood at 2,102.


Higgins says an inventory of about 2,000 available homes is considered to be healthy in the Spokane market.


As the number of homes for sale increases, he says, Well see prices stabilize more and get back to single-digit growth in prices.


Contact Linn Parish at (509) 344-1266 or via e-mail at [email protected].