Sales of new homes slipped year-over-year in September in the Des Moines, IA market, a shift downward off a rise in August 2011. Sales went from 102 in September 2010 to 101 in September 2011 after a move from 106 in August 2010 to 107 in August 2011.

A total of 1,081 new homes were sold during the 12 months that ended in September, down from 1,082 for the year that ended in August.

Of the total number of sales, new home sales made up 12.8%. New home sales were 13.4% of overall sales last year. Following a year-over-year increase in August, sales of new and existing homes also rose year-over-year in September.

The average price of new homes was $213,263 per unit in September, up 9.5%from a year earlier. This rise is higher than the 4.6% rise in August year-over-year.

Average mortgage size on new homes declined year-over-year in contrast to new home prices. The average mortgage size dipped to $178,695 in September, marking a 5.3% decline compared with last year. Average mortgage size increased 9.0% in August 2011 from a year earlier. Of the overall sale price, the percentage that was being financed slid 13.1 percentage points year-over-year to 83.8% in September 2011. In August 2011, there was a 3.5 percentage point rise from a year earlier.

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. The share of new home sales belonging to single-family homes jumped from 91.2% in September 2010 to 95.0% of sales in September 2011. Meanwhile, attached units as a percentage of all new home sales fell to 5.0% of sales from 8.8% of sales.

There was a move in the average unit size of newly sold homes from 1,809 square feet in September 2010 to 1,818 square feet in September 2011. In August 2011, the average size of newly sold homes fell 6.0% from the year earlier.

Foreclosures and real estate owned (REO) sales stayed a drag on the market. Out of all existing home sales, foreclosures combined with REO sales accounted for 31.3% of sales. They made up 35.0% in September 2010. The percentage of existing home sales involving foreclosures went from 19.0% in September 2010 to 19.5% in September 2011 and REO sales as a percentage of existing home sales declined to 11.8% from 16.0% a year earlier.

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