Oct 15, 2013 2 min read

Housing prices in Washington County remain among the highest in the region, according to a Pittsburgh-based real estate firm.

RealStats, which tracks residential sales data in five Southwestern Pennsylvania counties, compiled statistics for the first nine months of this year. They show that the average price of a Washington County home was $201,167, and the median price was $167,500. Both figures trailed only Butler County ($233,626 and $195,000).

Butler, Washington, Allegheny, Westmoreland and Beaver counties ranked one through five in both categories for the January-September period each of the past three years.

Homebuyers in the five counties this year spent $3.746 billion on 21,547 homes during those nine months, year over-year increases of 15.4 and 10.6 percent. The average home price across the five counties rose 4.3 percent, from $166,727 to $173,868; the median went up 4.2 percent ($131,500 to $137,000).

There were 1,907 homes sold in Washington County during the first nine months of this year, totaling $383,625,544. That’s 77 more houses sold compared with the same period last year.

Washington County’s average price topped $200,000 for the first time. Its $201,167 figure was a 10.9 percent increase from the same period in 2012 ($179,140) and 15.1 percent over 2011 ($170,644). Washington also nearly doubled the gap it had on third-place Allegheny in 2012, from $13,521 to $27,991.

Its median price ($167,500) – the middle of the price range – is 10.9 percent above 2012 (149,129) and a 17.5 percent increase over 2011.

RealStats also broke down sales into the categories of new homes and existing homes. Again, Butler, Washington, Allegheny, Westmoreland and Beaver finished one through five, respectively, in all categories.

Homeowners purchased 196 new houses for $70,218,095 in Washington County from January through September. The $358,256 average was a 10.7 percent increase year over year from $319,569. The median was $324,828, a 9.8 rise from $292,780 in 2012.

Butler’s average price for the first nine months of 2013 ($372,242) was about $14,000 more than Washington, but Butler’s median was much higher ($362,578).

The five-county average price was $342,975, 8.7 percent above 2012, and the median ($315,334) rose 12.0 percent year over year.

Average and median prices of existing homes in the region each went up 3.8 percent this year, to a $161,838 average and a $129,700 median. Washington County was well above each figure, with an average of $183,172 and a median of $152,000. It had 1,711 existing home sales for $313,407,449.

Butler led the way once more, with a $214,971 average and a median of $129,700.