Oct 22, 2012 2 min read

The housing market in Southwestern Pennsylvania stretched its winning streak to 12.Home sales for September in the five-county Metropolitan Pittsburgh region increased by 6.2 percent over September 2011. That was the 12th consecutive month that sales were up over a corresponding month the previous year.RealStats, a Pittsburgh-based company that tracks housing data, reported 2,209 homes were sold in September in Allegheny, Beaver, Butler, Washington and Westmoreland counties. That was a hike of 128 unit from last year’s figure of 2,081 and an 8.2 percent rise from the 2,041 sold in 2010.Dan Murrer, vice president of RealStats, is convinced the market’s momentum will continue.”I have no reason to believe that this trend will not continue through 2013 and beyond.”The region did well in the categories of All Home Sales and Existing Home Sales, but fared poorly in New Home Sales.The total dollar volume for all home sales in the five counties was $362.8 million, an 8.9 percent rise. The sale of existing homes went up 7.8 percent (from 1,917 to 2,066), with the total dollar volume about $318.4 million (13.5 percent increase).New home sales dropped 12.8 percent (from 164 to 143) in the five counties. The total dollar volume plummeted 15.8 percent (from $52.7 million to $44.4 million).Washington’s statistics were mixed. For all homes, the 201 sold in the county was a 10.3 percent drop from 224 in September 2011, and the total dollar volume fell about 2 percent to $37,436,291 from $38,215,990. Total dollar volume for the five counties rose 8.9 percent, thanks largely to a 9.8 increase in Allegheny tyo $207,532,316.But Washington was second in average price ($186,250) and median price ($148,280) of all homes, representing rises of 9.6 percent and and 8.6 percent. Butler was first in each category, with a $236,736 average and $203,000 median.Existing home sales declined 8.8 percent in Washington, from 193 to 176, for a total sales volume of $29,606,201 – fourth among the five counties in each category. Allegheny was the frontrunner in both categories with 1,237 homes for $187,590,322.But Washington County experienced a healthy 15 percent rise in average price of existing homes from $145,952 in 2011 to $168,217, and the median price rose from $120,000 to $122,750. Both totals were behind only Butler’s $226,365 average and $187,475 median.Washington experienced a 19 percent decline (31 to 25) in number of new homes sold for a 22 percent drop in total dollar volume ($10 million to $7.8 million). The county’s average price of new homes was $313,204, a dip from $324,107 in 2011, and the median fell from $322,099 to $301,748.