Median home prices in Pierce County dropped in August even as the number of homes on the market declined.

Figures released Tuesday by the Northwest Multiple Listing Service showed a 11.9 percent from the same time a year ago.

The median price for a single-family home or condo was $250,975. It’s the 11th drop in the past year. That price is about $4,000 below the median for July. Last August, the median home price was $285,000.

There were 1,871 new listings in August, about 400 fewer than last year’s 2,291. This year has also seen a large drop in closed sales, with 736 in August compared to 1,120 last year. July saw 796 closed sales. Still, Washington has fared better than other regions, especially California and Florida where prices have declined much further.

Pat Maddock, an agent with Coldwell Banker Bain and a former president of the Pierce County Association of Realtors, said he just got back from a three-week vacation, but even on the road, he still thought about the real estate market.

He checked in on different areas across the West Coast, and is convinced that Western Washington is in great shape. Even though the statistics look rough for Pierce County, it is nothing compared to areas such as Phoenix and Las Vegas.

Low prices, lots of homes on the market and low interest rates continue to show that it is a fantastic time to be a buyer. But because of this trend, buyers are “sitting on their hands,” thinking things could get even better and waiting to buy.

“If you are waiting for the market to bottom out, you’re going to miss it,” Maddock said. “You don’t know it’s at its lowest until it climbs upward.”

The most telling statistic to Dick Beeson, NWMLS director and owner of Windermere Commencement Associates, is that there is growing competition – statistics show a 10 percent drop in the number of houses for sale and a 20 percent drop of new listings.

“There is a declining inventory,” he said. “The selection is a little less, and competition is a little bit stronger, because only the strong survive.”

But sellers still have issues to face. Low prices and low rate of closed sales mean it is easy to make the wrong decisions, Maddock said.

“It’s very easy to overprice your home, it’s very tempting to overprice your home, and it’s suicidal to overprice your home,” he said.