Click image to enlarge.

Scott Terrell

April appears to have been one of the worst months in years for the Skagit County housing market as home prices fell by double-digits and sales activity continued at a crawl, according to data released Monday.

Last month’s median home sale price fell nearly 13 percent from one year ago to $241,970, according to the Northwest Multiple Listing Service. That’s the largest year-to-year percentage price drop seen here in several years.

Furthermore, the number of homes sold last month was 33 percent lower than one year ago, as sales activity failed to perk up, which typically happens in spring.

Until now, the Skagit County real estate market has gone through a pronounced slowdown but sale prices have kept climbing anyway.

Whether the local housing market is at a crossroads won’t be apparent until summer, when activity normally peaks. But it’s a troubling beginning to an important time of year for individuals trying to sell their homes.

Even so, local real estate professionals say they aren’t alarmed yet.

“We’re not too worried,” said Josh Scott, the managing broker at Windermere Real Estate in Mount Vernon. “It looks a lot bleaker when you are comparing to the last couple of years when we were on fire.”

Scott said business has been steadily increasing at his office, and he remains encouraged by the number of sales they have in the works, which should translate to a stronger market come summertime.

“Pending numbers have been outpacing sold properties, which tells us that buyers are getting into the game again,” Scott said.

Scott has also observed that sellers are finally readjusting their expectations and lowering their asking prices, which is reflected in falling list prices and sale prices.

The problem is, even though sellers’ prices are more realistic, buyers expectations aren’t, and many are still waiting to see how far the market will fall before buying a home.

Thus, it’s a buyers market — complete with low interest rates, falling prices and plenty of inventory — without enough buyers. As a result, sales activity has plummeted by 34 percent in the first four months of the year, and the number of homes on the market is now at its highest total since the local housing market began slowing down more than one year ago.

“I understand the hurdle for buyers to get over,” Scott said. “You don’t want to buy at the wrong time, but when people are talking about the market being bad, that’s the time to buy. You don’t always want to wait until people talk about how hot it is.”

Vickie Crook, who serves as president of the North Puget Sound Association of Realtors, said that despite April’s figures, the market continues to be in a normal correction that’s consistent with others she’s seen in her 16 years in Skagit County real estate.

Like Scott, she’s confident that pending sales will give the market a boost in a month or so.

“We are confident that the number of houses sold will pick up,” she said.

• Josh Lintereur can be reached at 360-416-2141 or at .