Home prices, number of buyers decline in Washington County
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Fewer buyers spent fewer bucks for homes in Washington County last month compared with October 2012.
This is according to figures provided by RealStats, a Pittsburgh-based firm that tracks residential real estate sales data in five Southwestern Pennsylvania counties.
The picture, however, is slightly different across the entire metropolitan Pittsburgh region, which also comprises Allegheny, Beaver, Butler and Westmoreland counties. There were more buyers this October than last year, but they also spent less for houses.
Regionwide, 2,653 homes were purchased last month, a 4.2 percent rise from 2,546 the previous October, but dollar volume dropped 2.1 percent from $433.3 million to $424.1 million last month. That resulted in a 6.1 percent decline in average home price ($170,191 to $159,862) and a 4.5 percent slide in median price ($135,000 to $128,900).
There were 214 homes purchased in Washington County last month, a 16.4 percent decrease from October 2012. The average price dipped slightly, 0.4 percent (from $176,384 to $175,544) – less of a dropoff than any county except Beaver. But the median price of a Washington County home dropped 6.9 percent ($153,200 to $142,615) and the total dollar volume declined 16.8 percent ($45,154,392 to $37,566,478).
Washington was the only county in the region to experience a year-over-year dropoff in sales of existing homes, from 229 to 192. Metropolitan Pittsburgh registered an impressive 7.2 percent gain last month (2,304 to 2,471), fueled by an 11.3 percent increase in Allegheny County (1,362 to 1,517).
Dollar volume for existing homes sold in Washington County declined year over the year from $36,965,167 to $29,507,485 (20.2 percent). That led to a 4.7 percent drop in average price ($161,420 to $153,685) and a 7.2 percent slide in median price ($153,200 to $142,615).
Purchases of new homes plunged in the region from 242 in 2012 to 182 (24.8 percent), as did dollar volume ($74,848,555 to $62,528,891, or 16.5 percent). Five fewer new homes were sold in Washington County (22) last month compared with October 2012 (27), with dollar volume declining 1.5 percent ($8,189,225 to $$8,058,993).
The average price of those new Washington homes, though, rose 20.8 percent year over year ($303,305 to $366,318), and the median price jumped 16.6 percent ($291,863 to $340,289). Last month’s Washington prices were well above the five-county region figures of $343,565 for average and $312,700 for median.