Pittsburgh's Home Sales Are Hot

Pittsburgh's Home Sales Are Hot

(Article Courtesy of "Pittsburgh Tribune-Review")
Housing prices in many regions of the country are dropping. But in the Pittsburgh area, they're continuing to rise.

Housing prices in Allegheny and four surrounding counties were 2.2 percent higher for the first nine months of 2007 than for the same period last year, according to RealStats, a South Side-based real estate information company.

One factor in the increase is a slight jump in sales for homes that cost between $500,000 and $1 million. RealStats figures show 521 homes in that range have sold so far this year, compared to 495 last year.  Among those homes that sold for $500,000 to $1 million, the average price was $652,758. That's 2.2 percent higher than the $638,927 recorded for the same nine months last year, the company's figures show.

The average price for homes more than $1 million is almost $1.45 million, up 6.7 percent from a year ago. 

While fewer houses have been sold this year in all price categories except the $500,000 to $1 million properties, the largest decline has been for homes that sold for under $100,000. Prices for those lower-priced homes slipped 2.6 percent. 

In all, 25,218 houses were sold through September this year in Allegheny, Beaver, Butler, Washington and Westmoreland counties, down 4.8 percent from the 26,493 a year ago. The region's average price for all home sales is $142,251, up from $139,240 last year.