March 7, 2012 (Shirley Allen)
Monthly sales of existing single-family homes in the state of New York followed seasonal trends and fell from December to January but remained on par with last year’s tally according to the latest housing data from the New York State Association of Realtors® (NYSAR).
An estimated total of 4,529 existing single-family homes were sold in the Empire State in January. That was 29.6 percent lower than the revised 6,437 homes sold in December and only 0.8 percent lower than the 4,564 homes sold in January 2011.
The median sales price for an existing home in New York improved by 5.7 percent in January to $212,500, up from $202,000 in December, but was 5.3 percent lower than the median price of $224,450 in January of last year.
Duncan R. MacKenzie, chief executive officer of NYSAR, stated, “In terms of sales, January 2012 was a typical first month of the year, especially when compared to the start of the past two years. Looking at the past decade, it is also characteristic of our seasonal market that January sales lag behind December of the previous year.”
Of the 39 counties that provide data for the monthly report, only three counties reported gains from the previous month with Washington County (+47.1 percent) reporting the largest increase while Franklin County (-72.4 percent) posted the largest monthly decline in sales.
Year-over-year, 17 counties reported sales gains with the largest gain posted in Broome County (+85.0 percent) and the largest decline posted in Greene County (-58.1 percent).
Suffolk County recorded the most sales for the month with an estimated 562 home sales, down from 670 the previous month, while Nassau County followed with an estimated 522 home sales for the month, down from 624 in December.
“While the statewide housing market has not yet reached a sustainable upward sales trend, solid market fundamentals, such as low interest rates, and improving economic conditions may work to bring more buyers back to the market as we move through 2012,” MacKenzie added.
Tags: existing homes, condos, sales, median home prices, New York
Source:
NYSAR