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Wilmington, NC - Recent New Home Sales Decline Year-Over-Year in February After Rising Year-Over-Year in January

Posted on: May 07, 2012 09:57:33 AM

In February, there was a decline year-over-year in new home sales in the Wilmington, NC market, shifting downward off a hike in January 2012. There was a 5.8% decline in new home sales from a year earlier. This followed a 40.9% climb year-over-year in January.

A total of 1,249 new homes were sold during the 12 months that ended in February, down from 1,255 for the year that ended in January.

Out of all housing sales, new home sales made up 15.3%, down from the 19.9% of sales a year earlier. For new and existing homes, sales increased year-over-year in February after also increasing in January year-over-year.

Pricing and Mortgage Trends

In February, the average value of new homes saw a 1.5% rise year-over-year as it grew to $226,697 per unit. This rise is smaller than the 3.7% rise in January year-over-year.

There was a rise year-over-year in the average mortgage size on new homes along with new home prices. Average mortgage size jumped 10.7% to $216,354 in February from a year earlier. In January 2012, average mortgage size on newly sold homes saw a 34.4% lift year-over-year from a year earlier.

Other Market Trends

As a share of new home sales, single-family home sales have climbed from last year while the share belonging to attached units has fallen. Single-family home sales grew from 86.5% of new sales in February 2011 to 89.8% of sales in February 2012. Meanwhile, attached units as a percentage of all new home sales dropped to 10.2% of sales from 13.5% of sales.

For all new homes sold, the average unit size slipped 2.0% year-over-year to 1,878 square feet in February 2012. The average size of newly sold homes moved from 1,797 square feet in January 2011 to 2,068 square feet in January 2012.

Foreclosures and real estate owned (REO) sales remained level in February from a year earlier, but remained a drag on the market. Foreclosures and REO sales, taken together, made up 47.2% of existing sales, about the same as a year earlier. The percentage of existing home sales involving foreclosures rose to 29.3% in February from 20.3% a year earlier while REO sales as a percentage of existing home sales dipped to 17.9% from 27.5% a year earlier.

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