Sales of new single-family homes posted the first annual gain in seven years as median prices continued to rise. The median price of new homes increased to $248,900 last month, a 1.34% increase compared to November. The median price of new homes sold was up 13.86% compared to a year ago.
New home sales volume increased nearly 20% from 2011 to 2012, and although the gains were large, sales last year were still the third worst on record. For all of last year 369,000 new homes were sold – about a third of the record number of sales reached in 2005. In December alone – the latest month available – new home sales dropped 7.29% compared to the previous month.
Existing home sales tell a similar story with volume easing December but remaining well above a year ago. Meanwhile, very limited inventory maintained the upward momentum in home prices. Total existing home sales declined 1.00% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.94 million in December from 4.99 million in November.
Despite the minor down-tick in December, annual volume was still 12.76% above the 4.38 million-unit level attained in 2011. It was the highest volume since 2007 when it reached 5.03 million and the strongest increase since 2004.
The national median existing home price for all housing types was $180,800 in December, which is 10.97% above December 2011. This is the 10th consecutive month of year-over-year price gains and was the strongest annual price gain since 2005 when the median price rose 12.40%.
Local County Real Estate Market Reports
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