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By KRISTEN MILLARES BOLT
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER REPORTER

As high as King County's home prices go, buyers seem willing to follow. Well, for now, at least.

In August, the median price of a single-family home in King County surged 17 percent, while the number of pending sales jumped 14.6 percent.

"Wow, I am a little bit surprised at the strength we were seeing in the August numbers," said Glenn Crellin, director of the Washington Center for Real Estate Research at Washington State University. "Part of it was an expectation on the part of the consumer that rates were going up, and they wanted to make a purchase before they were priced out of the market."

King County's home price increase means the median home cost $385,000 in August -- $56,000 more than the median home cost in August 2004, according to figures released on Monday by the Northwest Multiple Listing Service. The median price means that half of the sales are above that amount and half below.

The service, which represents real estate brokers in Western Washington and two Central Washington counties, revealed price increases for homes across the region that matched King County's trajectory with a 16.6 percent gain.

Despite the rising prices, the PMI Mortgage Insurance Co.'s summer 2005 study of U.S. housing markets found Seattle, and Washington state, trailing far behind the pack of housing markets at risk for declining prices.

On the West Coast, Seattle was the only metropolitan area studied that ranked among the survey's 10 lowest-risk areas.

Anne and Michael Brodesky, with their 17-month son, Miles, take a walk outside their new home in Montlake Monday. The Brodeskys moved into their new home two weeks ago.

To calculate its risk index, the PMI uses a computer model to assess economic conditions (it approved of Seattle's strong service and information industries and rebounding labor market), current home prices, and interest rates.

Still, the market pressures associated with Seattle's housing boom -- more buyers vying for fewer homes -- are forcing home buyers to be less picky when considering houses.

Throughout 15 Western Washington counties, the total number of active listings (homes and condos on the market) dropped 13.3 percent from a year ago. Though still not good news for buyers hoping to get a deal on a home, the listing services said that's the smallest drop so far this year.

When Michael Brodesky and his wife, Anne, moved to Seattle from California a year ago, they rented in Montlake while considering where they would buy. Because they didn't want to leave a neighborhood within walking distance of her work at the University of Washington, they had to give on something, even if they were dropping a large chunk of change.

After the couple looked at 30 houses in a range of prices, they settled for a home a few blocks away from where they had been renting. But, the property's frontage on a busy street had scared away other buyers -- despite a remodeled kitchen and a finished basement.

King County sellers looking to take advantage of the hot market added 349 more homes to the pool of properties for sale this August than they did last. But those homes were added to a diminished pool and only lasted on the market for 37 days before being sold -- six days less than last year.

"Inventory continues to be a challenge for us," said Jim Reppond, an associate broker with Coldwell Banker Bain.

"Even last year, we had less than the year before. It is just a major contraction of inventory, and when you match that with the upward pressure of demand, the prices will keep rising."

That churn of buying and selling -- along with the steadily climbing price of a single-family home in King County -- sent some buyers to the condo market, where prices and sales rose, but less dramatically.

The median price of a condo climbed 13.5 percent in King County, while pending sales of condos grew by 5.8 percent.

"It depends on how strongly buyers value being in a ... neighborhood where they can walk to their services -- the supermarket, the video store," Reppond said.

"If they abhor getting into a car, then they'll downsize to a condo, or an itty-bitty house, in order to stay in Seattle."

In Seattle, the median price of single-family homes and condos rose by 15.4 percent in August. Even so, those properties only stayed on the market for 27 days before selling -- 13 days less than last year.

Reppond said, "Many clients are happy to be in Lynnwood, Edmonds or Shoreline, adding 15 minutes to their commute, but getting the kind of house that they want."

But those seeking refuge from Seattle's and King County's prices may be startled at what they find. Throughout the Puget Sound region in August, price increases outmatched King County's, though median home prices are still lower.

In Snohomish County, where the median house price was above $300,000 for the first time in history, home prices jumped 23.6 percent to $311,525.

In Pierce County, home prices rose 22.6 percent, but the median home price was at $247,753. And in Kitsap County, home prices skyrocketed 26.5 percent to $264,500.