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Des Moines, IA - Latest New Home Sales Increase Year-Over-Year in October After Falling Year-Over-Year in September

Posted on: Feb 06, 2012 09:18:57 AM

There was an increase in new home sales in the Des Moines, IA market in October year-over-year, an upward turn from a decline in September 2011. Sales gained 21.3% from a year earlier to 108, compared with a move from 102 in September 2010 to 101 in September 2011.

A total of 1,100 new homes were sold during the 12 months that ended in October, up from 1,081 for the year that ended in September.

As a percentage of overall housing sales, new home sales made up 13.5% of overall housing sales. As a part of the whole, new home sales were 13.2% a year earlier. Sales of new and existing homes jumped year-over-year in October after also rising in September year-over-year.

Pricing and Mortgage Trends

Average price of newly sold homes saw a 3.7% rise year-over-year in October to $235,658 per unit. This rise is smaller than the 9.5% rise in September year-over-year.

Along with new home prices, there was an increase year-over-year in the average mortgage size on newly sold homes. Average mortgage size increased 6.4% to $202,680 in October from a year earlier. In September 2011, average mortgage size dipped 5.3% from a year earlier. The overall percentage of sale price that was being financed rose 2.1 percentage points year-over-year to 86.0% in October 2011. In September 2011, there was a 13.1 percentage point drop in September from a year earlier.

Other Market Trends

As a share of new home sales, single-family home sales have climbed from last year while the share belonging to attached units has fallen. Single-family home sales rose from 84.3% of new sales in October 2010 to 97.2% of sales in October 2011. At the same time, the share of new home sales belonging to attached units fell to 2.8% of sales from 15.7% of sales.

There was a 15.7% fall year-over-year in the average unit size of newly sold homes to 1,666 square feet in October 2011. In September, the average size of new homes sold went from 1,793 square feet a year earlier to 1,828 square feet.

Foreclosures and real estate owned (REO) sales stayed a drag on the market. Together, foreclosures plus REO sales represented 27.5% of existing home sales. They made up 32.0% in October 2010. The percentage of existing home sales involving foreclosures fell to 14.0% in October from 19.7% a year earlier while REO sales as a percentage of existing home sales increased to 13.5% from 12.3%.

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