Seattle, Tacoma, Bellevue, WA Get this data
in your Inbox

You have successfully subscribed to the local housing data e-newsletter for .

If you wish to receive monthly updates for other market areas please subscribe to new markets using our expanded form.

Seattle, WA - Freshest Figures for New Home Sales Suggest Climb Gaining Steam

Posted on: May 07, 2012 09:46:08 AM

New home sales in the Seattle, WA market grew year-over-year in February, and there were suggestions of strengthening market conditions as the percentage gain was sharper than January 2012. New home sales saw a 12.6% rise from a year earlier to 393. This came on the heels of a 2.6% rise year-over-year in January.

A total of 5,430 new homes were sold during the 12 months that ended in February, up from 5,386 for the year that ended in January.

Out of all housing sales, new home sales made up 11.0%. This is an increase on a percentage basis, as new home sales were 9.4% of total sales a year ago. Sales of new and existing homes declined year-over-year in February after also falling in January year-over-year.

Pricing and Mortgage Trends

The average price of new homes increased 2.1% year-over-year in February to $388,035 per unit. This is a turnaround from the 6.0% decline in January from a year earlier.

The average mortgage size on new homes moved north year-over-year along with new home prices. In February 2012, average mortgage size rose 3.4% from a year earlier to $314,000. In January 2012, average mortgage size fell 4.2% from a year earlier. On aveage, the percentage of new home sale price that was being financed went from 79.9% of average price to 80.9% from a year earlier. This came after a 1.6 percentage point rise in January from the year earlier.

Other Market Trends

The percentage of new home sales belonging to single-family homes has risen from last year while the portion of new home sales belonging to attached units has dropped. The share of new home sales belonging to single-family homes rose from 83.1% in February 2011 to 90.3% of sales in February 2012. Meanwhile, attached units as a percentage of all new home sales slid to 9.7% of sales from 16.9% of sales.

There was a 2.5% decline year-over-year in the average unit size of newly sold homes to 2,208 square feet in February 2012. This decline was opposite the price rise, a pattern also seen in January 2012 when the average size of newly sold homes slipped 2.5% to 2,128 square feet.

Foreclosures and real estate owned (REO) sales declined in February from a year earlier, but remained a burden on the market. Foreclosures and REO sales, taken together, represented 49.4% of existing sales, lower than 59.8% a year earlier. The percentage of existing home sales involving foreclosures fell to 17.2% in February from 30.8% a year earlier while REO sales as a percentage of existing home sales increased to 32.3% from 29.0%.

Please refer to the ABOUT THIS MSA tab to learn more about geographic coverage and data availability in this market area.