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Harrisburg, PA - Newest New Home Sales Numbers Give Hints Market Fall is Slowing

Posted on: May 07, 2012 09:15:32 AM

In the Harrisburg, PA market, new home sales fell year-over-year in February, but the decline in percentage terms was an improvement from January 2012, suggesting that the market may be leveling out. There was a 15.4% fall in new home sales from a year earlier. In comparison, new home sales in the same month last year saw a 34.5% drop year-over-year in January.

A total of 445 new homes were sold during the 12 months that ended in February, down from 449 for the year that ended in January.

New home sales made up 6.7% of overall housing sales. This is a decline 7.9% of sales a year earlier. After being steady in January from a year earlier, sales of new and existing homes remained level in February.

Pricing and Mortgage Trends

The average price of newly sold homes dipped 4.8% year-over-year in February to $285,010 per unit. This decline is larger than the 1.6% decline in January from a year earlier.

The average mortgage size on newly sold homes fell year-over-year in contrast to the average price of new homes. In February 2012, average mortgage size slipped 5.2% from a year earlier to $232,379. In January 2012, average mortgage size on newly sold homes saw a 2.9% decline from a year earlier. For newly sold homes, the percentage of sale price being financed moved from 81.9% of average price to 81.5% from a year earlier. This came after a 1.1 percentage point decline in January from the year earlier.

Other Market Trends

There has not been much movement in the composition of the market with regard of the types of properties sold. From a year ago, single-family home sales have moved from 96.2% of new home sales to 95.5% of sales while attached units have gone from 3.8% of sales to 4.5% of sales.

The average unit size of newly sold homes went from 3,027 square feet in February 2011 to 3,055 square feet in February 2012. In January 2012, the average size of newly sold homes sank 49.8% from the year earlier.

Foreclosures and real estate owned (REO) sales did not appear to be dragging the market. Combined, foreclosures plus REO sales represented 20.3% of existing home sales. They accounted for 23.8% in February 2011. The percentage of existing home sales involving foreclosures declined to 3.6% in February from 7.9% a year earlier and REO sales moved from 15.9% of existing home sales in February 2011 to 16.7% in February 2012.

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