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Austin, TX - Freshest New Home Sales Numbers Suggest Market Rise Slowing.

Posted on: May 06, 2012 09:13:14 AM

There was a rise in new home sales in the Austin, TX market in February year-over-year, but with an increase less steep than that of January 2012, the market seemed to be showing signs of evening out. New home sales saw a 5.5% rise from a year earlier to 406. This was after the housing market saw a 14.7% climb year-over-year in January.

A total of 6,259 new homes were sold during the 12 months that ended in February, up from 6,238 for the year that ended in January.

A year earlier, new home sales accounted for 17.7% of overall housing sales and the percentage declined to 16.2% of sales in February 2012. Sales of new and existing homes rose year-over-year in February after also rising in January year-over-year.

Pricing and Mortgage Trends

The average value of newly sold homes moved to $247,940 in February 2012 from $247,214 in February 2011. This came after a 1.6% rise in January year-over-year.

Average mortgage size on new homes remained steady year-over-year in February, holding fast at $214,925. In January 2012, average mortgage size on newly sold homes saw a 1.2% rise year-over-year from a year earlier. The overall percentage of sale price that was being financed went from 86.9% of average price to 86.7% from a year earlier. It went from 87.4% in January 2011 to 87.1% in January 2012.

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 92.5% of new home sales to 93.1% of sales while attached units have gone from 7.5% of sales to 6.9% of sales.

For all new homes sold, the average unit size sank 18.0% year-over-year to 1,828 square feet in February 2012. The average size of newly sold homes moved from 2,226 square feet in January 2011 to 2,411 square feet in January 2012.

Foreclosures and real estate owned (REO) sales decreased in February from a year earlier, but remained a drag on the market. Together, foreclosures plus REO sales accounted for 26.1% of existing home sales, down from 36.4% a year earlier. The percentage of existing home sales involving foreclosures dipped to 15.1% in February from 17.6% a year earlier while REO sales as a percentage of existing home sales fell to 11.0% from 18.8% a year earlier.

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