Updated: Sammamish-area Median Home Price Rises for Second Straight Month to $509,990

If a rose is a rose is a rose is a rose, then an increase is an increase. For Sammamish-area single family home prices, you can count two upticks during the first three months of the year.

The median closing price for a home in the Sammamish region last month reached $509,990, which marks a 4.5 percent rise from March 2010, the Northwest Multiple Listing Service reported.

The last time a single family house price was higher than $509,900 was in August 2010, when the median number was $541,500. But the Sammamish-area housing market, similar to others, has seen price fluctuations since 2009.

Joan Probala, Windermere managing broker in Issaquah, explained that the property reports that she has reviewed show that Sammamish-area houses have kept their value in relationship to other areas around Seattle. 

"It’s still keeping its quality. I’m sure the prices are down a little bit," Probala, who writes a  for Sammamish Patch, said.

The median sales price means that 50 percent are higher and 50 percent are lower. The median sales price is not the average sales price.

The Sammamish area includes the city, North Bend, Snoqualmie and parts of King County, according to the Northwest Multiple Listing Service and agents.

Last year, around this time, the U.S. government was offering a first-time homebuyer tax credit of $8,000.

In a statement, Mike Grady, president of Coldwell Banker Bain, pointed out the absence of that credit, which prompted many potential buyers to enter the market.

"Home sales are now standing on their own, without the benefit of incentives, and the market is actually behaving quite typically," he said.

In the Sammamish area housing market, it appears that sales activity - both pending and closed - has increased since March 2009.

Last month, the Sammamish area recorded 113 closed sales, an increase from 59 in March 2009. During that month of 2009, there were 84 pending sales, which nearly doubled to 160 during this March.  

In March 2010, the Sammamish area had 213 pending sales and 115 closed transactions.

The number of single-family house listings in March was 637, down from 653 from the same month in 2010. In March 2009, the Sammamish area housing market had 836 listings.

While distressed and bank-owned houses remain in the market, Grady said he believes they are in the minority.

The 4.5 percent increase in the March closed sales price for the Sammamish area also was better than the 0.43 percent price rise for single-family homes on the Eastside, according to the listing service.

The King County Department of Assessments also points out in an that waterfront homes have, for the most part, kept their "premium" values.

The listing service represents real estate agents in Western and Central Washington. The group released its monthly report last week on Wednesday.

Editor's note: This story was revised around 3 p.m. on Monday, April 11 to include a bankrate.com link to a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage graph for Washington state. It shows the past three years. Interest rates change regularly. But this graph shows that 30-year fixed interest rates are in the 5-percent range. They are inching up.