High-Priced Transactions Drive Seattle Home Sales in June

June marked the 12th straight month of year-over-year home sales increases in Seattle, according to a report from ""DataQuick"":http://www.dataquick.com/.

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Although sales in some of the lower price ranges declined, increased activity in higher ranges made up for those drops. The median sale price rose year-over-year for the third consecutive month-hitting a nearly two-year high-as the market shifted toward mid- to high-end transactions and foreclosure resales fell.

June's total sales rose in the Seattle metro 4.6 percent from May and 10.5 percent from June 2011, according to DataQuick. A total of 4,886 new and resale houses closed escrow during the month. That number was the highest for June since 2007 but still 21.2 percent below the average number of June home sales since 1994.

It is normal to see a significant rise in sales between May and June, with that increase averaging 9.8 percent in DataQuick's Seattle-area statistics.

Distressed property sales made up 38 percent of the area's resale market, down from 40 percent in May and 43 percent a year earlier. Foreclosure resales represented 14.6 percent of that total-the lowest share since October 2008-and short sales made up an estimated 23.3 percent.

The increase in total June sales was attributed to increased activity above the $200,000 price mark. While the number of homes that sold for less than $200,000 fell 1.0 percent from June 2011, sales above $300,000 rose 24.3 percent, and sales from $200,000-$600,000 rose 14.3 percent. The number of homes sold in the $600,000-$900,000 range rose 35.4 percent year-over-year.

Buyers paid a median $289,950 for all new and resale houses sold in the Seattle area during June, an increase of 3.0 percent from May and 8.2 percent from June 2011. The median began rising on a year-over-year basis in April after 20 straight months of year-over-year declines.

According to the report, foreclosures on single-family houses and condo units in the region increased 13.6 percent from May, but were still down 45.2 percent from 2011. During the first six months of this, foreclosures in the Seattle area were down 52.5 percent from the same period last year.