Dec 19, 2012 2 min read

Washington County saw the dollar volume for total home sales grow by nearly $6 million, or 17.6 percent, in November, according to the latest residential real estate sales statistics released Wednesday.

Pittsburgh-based RealStats, which covers residential real estate transactions in a five-county area of Western Pennsylvania, noted that along with the dollar volume increase over November 2011, the average price of an existing home also rose to $181,915, up $16,458 from $165,457 average of a year ago.

RealStats, which follows sales of homes, townhomes and duplexes in Allegheny, Beaver, Butler, Washington and Westmoreland counties, reported that the Pittsburgh region’s real estate climb continued last month as 2,054 individuals and families spent a total of $331.5 million on homes in the five counties.

The additional $58 million investment in homes compared to November 2011 marked a 21.2 percent increase and consisted of a $55.4 million rise in the existing home market and a $2.5 million bump in new home sales.

According to the company, the total number of home sales rose 18.5 percent from 1,733 last year to 2,054 last month. All counties saw increased sales with Allegheny County accounting for more than half of the region’s dollar gain of $30.3 million followed by Butler County, which saw homes sales by $11 million. Dollar gains in Westmoreland, Washington and Beaver counties were $6.1 million, $5.9 million and $4.6 million respectively.

The number of exiting homes sold rose 19.6 percent from 1,587 in November 2011 to 1,898 last month as dollars increased $55.4 million,

Washington County’s total homes sales, both new and existing, stood at 186 units in November, an increase of four units from November of a year ago.

Twenty-nine of the units sold last month were new, which generated $9.1 million in sales at an average price of $316,000.