New home sales declined year-over-year in October in the Bangor, ME market, and the decline was by a larger percentage than the September 2011. New home sales moved from five a year earlier to two after the figure moved from six in September 2010 to four in September 2011.

A total of 37 new homes were sold during the 12 months that ended in October, down from 40 for the year that ended in September.

New home sales represented two out of the 65 total sales, which is a smaller percentage than the five of 58 total sales a year earlier. Sales of new and existing homes increased year-over-year in October following a decline in September year-over-year.

The average new home value went from $125,546 last year to $202,393,. This was on the heels of a 41.0% surge in September year-over-year.

Average mortgage size on new homes increased to $183,571 from $67,450 last year. Average mortgage size on new homes went from $91,267 in September 2010 to $159,585 in September 2011. For new home sales, the percentage of the sale price that was being financed climbed 37.0 percentage points year-over-year to 90.7% in October 2011. This was another gain after September 2011 when there was a 17.0 percentage point bump from a year earlier.

There was no change in the composition of the new-home market with regard to the types of properties sold in October 2011. Single-family homes continued to account for all of new home sales.

Foreclosures and real estate owned (REO) sales staying steady in October from a year earlier and did not look to be a burden on the market. Foreclosures and REO sales, taken together, made up 15.9% of existing sales, about the same as a year earlier. The percentage of existing home sales involving foreclosures rose to 3.2% in October from 1.9% a year earlier and REO sales moved from 13.2% of existing home sales in October 2010 to 12.7% in October 2011.

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