There was some good news for the Treasure Valley housing industry in April, but not enough to offset the bad news in industry figures released Monday.
Sales increased in Ada County for the fourth straight month, and Canyon County sales have beaten the previous month's total three out of the first fourth months of 2008. And the number of pending sales - homes under contract that are awaiting loan approval and closing - rose again, too.
But part of the increase is simply the normal upward trend that occurs each spring, when the school year ends and home selling and buying becomes more active.
And this year's growth hasn't been enough either to reduce the number of homes for sale - the inventory rose in April - or to stop the decline in prices. Meanwhile, foreclosure filings continue to rise.
"It's going to continue to be a buyer's market," said Shaun Tracy, an associate broker with Re/Max Capital City. "This (downturn) will eventually bring us back to affordability in the market, especially if you're a dual-income home."
Here's what the latest data show:
Sales down: According to the Intermountain Multiple Listing Service, which tracks home sales Valleywide, there were 635 transactions reported in April, a 39 percent decline from the comparable period a year ago. Ada County sales were down 35 percent from a year ago, while Canyon County saw a 47 percent drop.
Tracy said sales this year will not approach the numbers for 2007, a down year. With just 2,286 sales Valleywide during the first four months of 2008, compared with 3,638 for the same period a year ago, the industry would need a dramatic spike in sales to equal the 10,027 transactions recorded for all of 2007, Tracy said.
"We're not going to get close to last year," he said.
Prices down: The median price in Ada County last month was $208,000, off 1 percent from the previous month's median price of $210,000 and 9 percent below a year ago. Canyon County's median price in April was $144,900, down 3 percent from $149,500 in March and 8 percent from a year ago.
Big inventory: Industry statistics show there were 7,533 homes on the market last month, Tracy said. That compares with 7,140 homes in April 2007.
Foreclosures up: An IdahoDataProviders report released Monday said there 1,498 new notices of default - the first step in the foreclosure process - filed Valleywide during the first four months of 2008, a 138 percent increase over the comparable period a year ago. "And they're just going to keep going up," said IdahoDataProviders President Charlie Nate.
Nate said hundreds of subprime loans with adjustable interest rates issued in 2006 are now strangling homeowners as the interest rate on their monthly mortgage payment adjusts upward. Tracy said existing home sales continue to outpace new home sales strictly on price.
"New construction is still priced too high," he said. "Somebody who can only afford so much is only going to go with what they can afford."
One example was southeast Boise, where 43 of the 50 homes sold last month were existing homes with a median price of $225,000, compared with a median price of $479,900 for a new home in the area. South Nampa recorded the most sales in Canyon County last month with 49. Of those, 35 were existing homes with a median price of $157,000. The median price for a new home was $208,790.
Consumers are even hunting for bargains in the high-end sector of the market. In Eagle, 26 of 29 sales last month were existing homes with a median price of $360,000. New homes carried a median price of $605,000.
One good sign is that the number of pending sales has increased each month this year, said Mike Pennington, an agent with John L. Scott Real Estate in Boise.
In April, the number of pending home sales hit 1,061 Valleywide, compared with 800 in January, Pennington said.
"It looks like we've hit bottom and are slowly going to climb out of this hole," he said.
Joe Estrella: 377-6465
