Here's a couple of names you don't usually see at the top of any housing list: El Paso and Boise. Yet there they are, leading the pack in new home closings in the third quarter.
According to Housing Intelligence, the research division of the housing-centric Hanley-Wood publishing company, El Paso leads all markets with at least 300 new home closings in the third quarter. The Texas border town had 43% more closings in the quarter than it did in the same period in 2011, placing it “easily” at the top of the list.
Boise was next. The Idaho state capital sported a 35% gain in closings in the third quarter, and was the only market in the top six that is not in the South.
The rest of the top six markets were Cape Coral, Fla. (a 23% gain); Charleston, S.C. (22%); Nashville, Tenn. ( 21%), and Houston (19%).
Of the six, Houston had by far the most new home closings – 4,700. But nationally, according to HI, the number of new home sales that closed in the third quarter was down 6% from the same period a year ago.
