Housing and development: the bad news continues to mount

Fewer houses sell, and they sell for less
Only 318 new and pre-owned houses sold in Clark County in November, down 37.3 percent from the same month last year. That's the fewest houses sold in November since 1994, according to “benchmarks,” a tracking service of Vancouver’s Riley & Marks appraisal firm. Home prices also declined, Cami Joner reports. The median sales price — half sold for more, half for less — was $229,900 in November. That was down 11.6 percent from the $260,000 median price in the same month last year, and down 3.3 percent from the October median of $235,000. Read more here.

Commercial and residential construction languishes
In the first 11 months of the year, home building permits are down 52.2 percent from a year ago, Julia Anderson reports. And the value of residential permits issued in the first 11 months of 2008 was down by half - from $260.8 million last year to $125.6 million. Through November, builders have received permits for $76.9 million worth of commercial construction projects such as offices and retail space. The value of commercial construction permits is down 41.6 percent, to $226.5 million. Read more.

It's taking longer to sell
It would take 16.9 months to sell every Clark County house on the market, according to the RMLS Market Action report, released today. That's a jump from October, when inventory was at 13.7 months. Recent history: