New home sales dropped year-over-year in September in the Portland, ME market, and the decline was by a larger percentage than the August 2011. New home sales moved from 25 a year earlier to 13 after the figure moved from 24 in August 2010 to 22 in August 2011.

In the 12 months ending September 2011, there were 185 new home sales, down from an annualized 197 in August.

New home sales were 13 of the 165 total sales, down on a percentage basis from 25 of 179 a year earlier. For new and existing homes, sales slipped in September after also declining in August year-over-year.

The average value of newly sold homes in September 2011 was $250,394, down from last year's $264,778. This was on the heels of a move from $221,060 per unit to $221,624 from September 2009 to August 2011.

The average mortgage size on new homes was $219,913, up from $215,774. Average mortgage size increased 1.1% in August 2011 from a year earlier. On average, the percentage of new home sale price being financed saw a 6.3 percentage point rise from a year earlier. It moved from 80.0% in August 2010 to 80.7% in September 2010.

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 homes have accounted for all of new home sales.

Foreclosures and real estate owned (REO) sales did not look to be a burden on the market. Combined, foreclosures plus REO sales represented 10.5% of existing home sales. They accounted for 18.2% of sales in September 2010. From a year earlier, foreclosures fell to 2.6% of existing home sales in September after a figure of 5.8% of sales in September 2010 while REO sales as a percentage of existing home sales dipped to 7.9% of sales from 12.3% of sales a year earlier.

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