The average sale price of homes in Queen Anne/Magnolia rose 9.1% last month – from $550,000 to $600,000 – compared to January 2009. Our news partners, the Seattle Times, reports that home prices throughout the city of Seattle also rose for the first time in nearly two years, though prices in the rest of King County have continued to fall.

While prices rose 3.8 percent overall in Seattle in January, they fell 6.5 percent on the Eastside, 8.5 percent in Southeast King County, 11.1 percent in North King County and 11.2 percent in Southwest King County.

The report measures sales in the combined Magnolia/Queen Anne area and finds that there were 43 homes sold in January 2010 compared to 19 homes sold in January 2009. There were 70 homes listed for sale in January 2010 compared to 96 listed for sale the same time period a year ago. From the Seattle Times:

Zillow.com, the online real-estate marketplace and database, says its research through November indicates homes in Seattle generally have depreciated less than suburban homes since the market’s 2007 peak.

“It’s a bull’s-eye pattern — concentric circles,” said Stan Humphries, Zillow’s chief economist.

Seattle and many other central cities are faring better, he said, because many buyers are willing to pay a premium to live closer to work and such urban amenities as theaters, concerts and parks.

Read the full Times story here.