In the Salem, OR market, sales of new homes dipped year-over-year in November, but the decline was less than the year-over-year decline in October. New home sales moved from 14 a year earlier to 13 after the figure moved from 23 in October 2010 to 12 in October 2011.
A total of 195 new homes were sold during the 12 months that ended in November, down from 196 for the year that ended in October.
New home sales were 13 out of the 281 total sales, a move on a percentage basis from 14 of 268 a year earlier. Sales of new and existing homes rose year-over-year in November after also rising in October year-over-year.
Pricing and Mortgage Trends
The average price of new homes was $234,709 per unit in November 2011, which is down from $252,380 a year ago. This came after a 27.0% surge in October year-over-year.
Average mortgage size on new homes fell from $262,007 to $156,479. Average mortgage size on new homes went from $150,996 in October 2010 to $101,333 in October 2011.
Other Market Trends
There has been little change in the composition of the market with regard to the types of properties sold. From a year ago, single-family home sales have moved from 13 of 14 sales to 12 of 13 sales.
The average unit size of newly sold homes rose from 2,033 square feet a year earlier to 2,726 square feet.
Foreclosures and real estate owned (REO) sales declined in November from a year earlier, but stayed a drag on the market. Combined, foreclosures plus REO sales made up 40.3% of existing home sales, below 52.8% a year earlier. The percentage of existing home sales involving foreclosures rose to 25.4% in November from 22.4% a year earlier while REO sales as a percentage of existing home sales sank to 14.9% from 30.3% a year earlier.
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