In the Allentown, PA market in July, sales of new homes sank year-over-year, but the percentage drop, which was less than that of June 2011, gave signs that the market may be stabilizing. Sales sank 16.7% from a year earlier to 40, relative to a 73.1% decline in June from the year earlier.

In the 12 months ending July 2011, there were 523 new home sales, down from an annualized 531 in June.

New home sales represented 7.0% of overall housing sales. New home sales were 7.9% of overall sales last year. Following a year-over-year decline in June, sales of new and existing homes also fell year-over-year in July.

The average price of newly sold homes rose year-over-year 1.1% in July to $275,917 per unit. This rise is a drop off from the 2.5% rise in June year-over-year.

Average mortgage size on new homes saw a fall year-over-year in contrast to prices of new homes. It declined 11.9% in July from a year earlier, reaching $194,178. In June 2011, average mortgage size gained 13.4% from a year earlier. Of the overall sale price, the percentage that was being financed dropped 10.4 percentage points year-over-year to 70.4% in July 2011. This came after a 7.9 percentage point rise in June from a year earlier.

The share of new home sales made up by attached units has risen while the share belonging to single-family homes has fallen. The share of new home sales belonging to attached units increased from 52.1% of sales in July 2010 to 57.5% of sales in July 2011. Conversely, the share belonging to single-family homes slid to 42.5% of sales from 47.9% of sales.

Foreclosures and real estate owned (REO) sales continued to drop from a year earlier in July and did not look to be a burden on the market. Together, foreclosures plus REO sales accounted for 24.3% of existing home sales, down from 39.5% of sales a year earlier. The percentage of existing home sales belonging to foreclosures declined to 10.3% of sales in July from 23.1% a year earlier while REO sales dipped to 14.0% of existing sales from 16.5% of sales a year earlier.

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