According to Seattle Times and our local MLS, Seattle prices are rising slightly as of February of 2010, but the south end of King County is still experiencing decreasing prices. If you’d like information on how prices are doing in your specific neighborhood, just email me at karenblackburn@cbbain.com and I can send you sales data by zip code or city. Or check in specific neighborhoods at www.seattlehomesnow.com

The median price of a house that sold on the Eastside last month was $490,000, up 1 percent from February 2009. While this seems like quite a small percentage, it was that area’s first year-over-year increase since December 2007. Seattle’s median price also rose slightly for the second month in a row after nearly two years of declines.

However, in the Southwest and Southeast King County, the county’s most affordable areas, median prices fell by double digits.

“Estately” an online home search site, tracks online home search traffic. Based on the ‘bump’ in searches, they predict that, after a slow start to the new year, spring and summer of 2010 will bring good news to certain areas of the country, including Seattle. They say that when online searches spike, increased sales result in about 3 months. And they have seen quite a spike in searches – up to 65% in some areas! Seattle ranks 4th in the number of searches, after Chicago, Atlanta, and San Diego.

Here’s their ranking of the ‘bumps’ in searches from December 2009 to January 2010:

Chicago 64%

Atlanta 57%

San Diego 55%

Seattle 55%

Portland 47%

Bay Area 25%

Los Angeles 23%

Long Island 21%

Sacramento 15%