New home sales in the Salisbury, MD market were unchanged year-over-year in October, staying flat after advancing year-over-year in September from the year earlier. Sales remained level at five from a year earlier after the figure moved from eight in September 2010 to 10 in September 2011.

A total of 97 new homes were sold during the 12 months that ended in October, equal to the number of new homes sold for the year that ended in September.

New home sales were five of the 63 total sales, up on a percentage basis from five of 106 a year earlier. Following a year-over-year decline in September, sales of new and existing homes also dropped year-over-year in October.

The average per-unit price of new homes was $185,121, compared with $202,057 last year. This came after a 23.8% decline in September from a year earlier.

Average mortgage size on newly sold homes saw a decline year-over-year from $188,000 to $160,587. Average mortgage size on new homes went from $205,000 in September 2010 to $83,484 in September 2011. The overall percentage of sale price that was being financed dipped 6.3 percentage points year-over-year to 86.7% in October 2011.

As a share of new home sales, single-family home sales have risen from last year while the share belonging to attached units has fallen. Single-family home sales made up three of five new home sales after accounting for one of five a year earlier. Meanwhile, attached units made up two of five new home sales after making up four of five sales a year earlier.

The average unit size of newly sold homes fell from 1,745 square feet a year earlier to 1,615 square feet.

Foreclosures and real estate owned (REO) sales continued to drop from a year earlier in October, but did not appear to be dragging the market. Combined, foreclosures plus REO sales accounted for 13.8% of existing home sales, below 43.6% a year earlier. The percentage of existing home sales involving foreclosures fell to 1.7% in October from 15.8% a year earlier while REO sales as a percentage of existing home sales slid to 12.1% from 27.7% a year earlier.

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