Jan 16, 2013 2 min read

Only four more homes were sold in Washington County last month compared with December 2011, and the sale of existing homes here dropped 4.8 percent during the same period.

But the county did well in other categories, according to statistics compiled by Pittsburgh-based RealStats, which tracks residential real estate sales data in five Southwestern Pennsylvania counties.

RealStats reported that 218 homes were sold in Washington County last month, up from 214 in December 2011 and well above the 179 sold that month in 2010, The sales generated $40,090,278 in December, up about $6.6 million from 2011.

The median price of all homes sold rose 21.9 percent during that 12-month stretch, from $128,000 to $158,250 last month – the largest increase in the five counties that include Allegheny, Beaver, Butler and Westmoreland. That also was well above the regional figure of 6.5 percent.

The average price of homes sold in Washington County last month was $183,900, another impressive boost of 17.8 percent from $156,135 in December 2011.

RealStats broke down sales into the categories of new homes and existing homes, and Washington County did much better in the former – as did the five counties collectively in RealStats’ metropolitan district. There were 38 hew homes sold in Washington last month, a 52 percent increase from 25 in December 2011. Those 38 transactions went for $12,659,211, a 70.2 percent bump from $7,439,402 from 12 months earlier.

The district’s percentages in those categories were slightly higher – 64.2 percent and 75.4 percent increases respectively.

Washington County, however, did better than the other four counties in median and average prices of new homes. The median was $305,487, 12.7 percent up from $271,000 in 2011; the average was $333,137, 12 percent above $297,576.

The district’s median rose only 0.8 percent and the average 6.8.

The 180 existing homes sold in Washington County last month fell from 189 the previous December – the only decease experienced among the five counties for that period. Those transactions generated $27,431,067 in sales, a 6 percent rise from $25,973,407 in December 2011, but well below the 25.3 percent increase realized throughout district.

But of those existing home sales, the median price went up 13.6 percent ($125,000 from $110,000), nearly double the district’s 6.9 percent rise, and the average price increased 10.9 percent ($152,395 from $137,425), compared with 9.2 percent throughout the district.

Allegheny County ended up having its strongest December since 2004, with a 25.6 percent increase in sales – from 1,189 in December 2011 to 1,493. A major factor, apparently, is that people rushed to close on their homes there before Jan. 1, 2013, when that county’s Department of Real Estate raised recording fees from $78 to $150.

The fee is $63.50 in Washington; $62 in Westmoreland; and $55 in Beaver and Butler.