The median price of single-family homes sold in King County in 2013 hit $415,000, its highest in five years, as the local housing market’s recovery gained steam.

After tumbling to a seven-year low of $340,000 in 2011, the median rose 7 percent in 2012 and grew 14 percent more last year, according to data from the Northwest Multiple Listing Service. The median price means that half of homes sold for more, half for less.

But some areas in King County saw bigger spikes than others, according to a Seattle Times analysis of MLS data.

The Jovita/West Hill neighborhood in Auburn led all King County areas with a 29 percent increase in the median price, to $273,000.

Close behind, with 24 percent appreciation: Seattle’s Sodo/Beacon Hill area, also with a below-average median price of $320,000, and Bellevue’s neighborhoods west of Interstate 405, with the county’s highest median price: $1.3 million.

The smallest increases, from 3 to 6 percent, were in Central Seattle, Newcastle/Issaquah and North Seattle.

Despite the strong annual gains for homes, the median sales price for 2013 in nearly all areas of King County was still below its peak in 2007, when the housing bubble burst. But some places are close to recovering all the ground they lost.

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