The average sales price of homes in Island County continued to skyrocket this summer even as competition for homes eased slightly in the county and the state, Northwest Multiple Listing Service reported.

Island County saw one of the biggest jumps in the state for the median price of home sales in July.

The price jumped from $421,000 in July 2020 to $570,000 this July.

That’s a 35.39% increase.

The greatest increase in the median cost occurred in Central Whidbey, where it jumped by 54% in a year.

The medium price of the 17 homes sold during July was a whopping $650,000.

James Young, director of the Washington Center for Real Estate Research at the University of Washington, also compared the current real estate market to pre-pandemic statistics.

He noted that the prices in suburban counties and in those along the Interstate 5 corridor increased sharply in the last two years.

“Prices in Lewis County are up 54.2% from the July 2019 level, Snohomish County is up 40.6%, and Island County is up 44.3%,” he wrote. “Skagit and Whatcom counties underperformed relative to these areas with median price increases of 36.4% and 38.4% respectively.”

Young also noted that the number of new listings in the state increased in July 2021 from the same month in 2019. Island County echoed that trend.

Multiple Listing Service reported that the number of new listings has inched up slowly over the summer, but the total number of active listings is still 18% fewer in July 2021 compared to July 2020.

The number of closed sales increase by 9%, from 183 in July 2020 to 200 in July 2021.

“August historically is the last month of the year with elevated levels of new listings before they slowly taper down in the fall and decline more substantially over the winter,” said J. Lennox Scott, chairman and CEO of John L. Scott Real Estate.