You may recall last month that over on the other side of the Sound Kitsap County made King County’s gains look small, and in the month of September they’ve done it again, with Silverdale posting a 36.7% year-on-year increase.
Doney said the demand for affordable housing continues to increase, but that demand has the perhaps unintended affect of driving prices up, pushing south the line between affordable neighborhoods and higher priced ones.
A year ago in September, of the 19 Kitsap County areas measured by the listing service, Silverdale was the ninth most expensive. This September it came in sixth.
In Central Kitsap 108 homes sold during September, up 21 from the same month a year ago. More than half of those were in East Central Kitsap, where the median price jumped from $189,000 to $249,975, a 32.3 percent increase.
Affordability has left the building.
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CK Home Prices JumpOctober 16, 2005
While the usual suspects — Bainbridge Island and North Kitsap — continue to see housing price increase, Silverdale appears to gaining momentum.
“I think it comes down to affordable housing,” said Cathy Doney, a broker in the Silverdale Reid Real Estate office.
The median home price in Silverdale was $312,250 in September, compared to $228,495 in the same month a year ago, according to figures released by the Northwest Multiple Listing Service.
The 36.7 percent median Silverdale home price increase matches the rise on Bainbridge Island, where the median home price jumped from $416,250 to $569,000.
Doney said the demand for affordable housing continues to increase, but that demand has the perhaps unintended affect of driving prices up, pushing south the line between affordable neighborhoods and higher priced ones.
A year ago in September, of the 19 Kitsap County areas measured by the listing service, Silverdale was the ninth most expensive. This September it came in sixth.
In Central Kitsap 108 homes sold during September, up 21 from the same month a year ago. More than half of those were in East Central Kitsap, where the median price jumped from $189,000 to $249,975, a 32.3 percent increase.
Apparently, the view of Seattle had an impact last month as well. Prices in the Manchester/Retsil area of South Kitsap jumped 48.5 percent, from $191,950 to $285,000.
The median price in East Bremerton went up 16.3 percent to $223,750, while West Bremerton at $157,500 saw a 6.2 percent jump.
Doney said the demand for affordable housing will eventually create higher home value increases in Bremerton, too.
In terms of total volume, buyers spent a total of about $164 million on 493 homes during September, and average of $333,114, a 10.3 percent rise in sales and a 22.2 percent increase in average price.
Kitsap County’s 18.6 percent overall median home price increase $221,000 to $262,000 was 11th highest in the areas the Northwest Multiple Listing Service covers. Mason County median prices increased 20.9 percent from $145,000 to $175,250.
The median home price was $349,898 in King County, $245,000 in Pierce County and $285,000 in Jefferson County.
By Steven Gardner
(Steven Gardner, Kitsap Sun (free sign-up req.), 10.16.2005)