Local home sales outpace state

Home sales in Whitman County, compared to the prior year, tripled during the fourth quarter of 2009 and increased by far at the most rapid rate among Washington counties, according to a report issued last week by the Washington Center for Real Estate Research.

The report noted 620 homes were sold in Whitman County during the last three months of last year, a 148 percent swing over fourth quarter 2008 and a 72 percent increase from third quarter 2009.

Those numbers compared to a 46 percent statewide increase in home purchases over the end of 2008 and a 21 percent upswing from the third quarter...