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Lancaster, PA - Recent Figures for New Home Sales Rise Year-Over-Year in February After Decline Year-Over-Year in January

Posted on: May 07, 2012 09:22:39 AM

There was an increase in sales of new homes in the Lancaster, PA market in February year-over-year, moving up after a decline in January 2012. New home sales saw a jump of 29.6% from the year earlier to 35. This came on the heels of a 7.4% decline year-over-year in January.

A total of 428 new homes were sold during the 12 months that ended in February, up from 420 for the year that ended in January.

New home sales accounted for 11.4% of overall housing sales. This is a rise from 9.7% of sales a year earlier. Sales of new and existing homes jumped year-over-year in February after also rising in January year-over-year.

Pricing and Mortgage Trends

The average price of newly sold homes increased 2.4% year-over-year in February to $227,185 per unit. This is an upward shift from a 5.4% decline in January from a year earlier.

The average mortgage size on newly sold homes saw a decline year-over-year in contrast to new home prices. Average mortgage size declined by 9.2% from a year earlier, settling at $179,594 in February. Average mortgage size climbed 12.5% in January 2012 from a year earlier. Of the overall sale price, the percentage that was being financed declined 10.0 percentage points year-over-year to 79.1% in February 2012. This was a swing downward after a 14.8 percentage point hike in January from a year earlier.

Other Market Trends

The percentage of new home sales belonging to single-family homes has risen from last year while the portion of new home sales belonging to attached units has dropped. Single-family home sales rose from 63.0% of new sales in February 2011 to 68.6% of sales in February 2012. Conversely, the share of new home sales belonging to attached units fell to 31.4% of sales from 37.0% of sales.

There was a move in the average unit size of newly sold homes from 1,817 square feet in February 2011 to 1,810 square feet in February 2012. In January 2012, the average size of newly sold homes fell 7.4% from the year earlier.

Foreclosures and real estate owned (REO) sales did not look to be a burden on the market. Out of all existing home sales, foreclosures combined with REO sales represented 15.4% of sales. They accounted for 19.9% in February 2011. The percentage of existing home sales involving foreclosures went from 1.6% in February 2011 to 1.8% in February 2012 and REO sales as a percentage of existing home sales slipped to 13.6% from 18.3% a year earlier.

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