In the Fayetteville, AR market, sales of new homes declined year-over-year in September, shifting downward off a lift in August 2011. Sales slid 19.7% from a year earlier to 57. This came on the heels of a 17.3% hike year-over-year in August.

In the 12 months ending September 2011, there were 665 new home sales, down from an annualized 679 in August.

Of the total number of sales, new home sales made up 10.4%. A year earlier, new home sales accounted for 11.0% of total sales. For new and existing homes, sales dropped in September after also declining in August year-over-year.

In September, the average price of newly sold homes increased to $196,220 per unit, a 8.4% rise year-over-year. This is a swing up from a 3.6% decline in August from a year earlier.

The average mortgage size on new homes moved north year-over-year along with new home prices. It jumped to $271,819 in September, an 86.3% surge. Average mortgage size rose 4.2% in August 2011 from a year earlier.

There has been no change in the composition of the market with regard to the types of properties sold. From a year ago, single-family home sales have made up all of new home sales while attached unit sales have accounted for no part of sales.

Foreclosures and real estate owned (REO) sales decreased in September from a year earlier, but remained a drag on the market. Foreclosures and REO sales, taken together, represented 30.4% of existing sales, lower than 57.0% of sales a year earlier. From a year earlier, foreclosures sank to 18.0% of existing home sales in September after a figure of 38.6% of sales in September 2010 while REO sales declined to 12.4% of existing sales from 18.4% of sales a year earlier.

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