ALBANY, N.Y. — New York realtors completed the sale of nearly 8,500 previously owned homes in January, up 4.1 percent from January 2016.
The 8,472 closed sales in January represented a “new record” for the month, the New York State Association of Realtors (NYSAR) said in releasing its monthly housing-market report on Wednesday.
Homebuyer demand “remained strong” at the start of the new year, continuing the four-year sales growth trend and driving January sales to a new record level, Duncan MacKenzie, CEO of NYSAR, said in the release.
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“Historically, home sales are slower during the winter months. We believe the combination of rising mortgage rates and the continued decline in the number of homes available has caused buyers to remain actively engaged in the market and ready to make offers when they find the home that meets their needs,” said MacKenzie.
He also contends that for sellers, it “continues to be a good time” to list their homes.
“Selling prices are continuing to grow and competition remains low in many areas. During January, sellers received 96.3 percent of their asking price at closing. We anticipate these trends to continue as the inventory of homes for sale hovers around the five-month supply level,” said MacKenzie.
Sales data
The January statewide median sales price was $250,000, up 8.7 percent from the January 2016 median of $230,000, NYSAR said.
Pending sales from the year’s first month increased 8.5 percent from a year ago, to 8,513.
The months’ supply of homes for sale dropped 26.4 percent at the end of January to 5.3 months’ supply. It stood at 7.2 months at the end of January 2016.
A 6 month to 6.5-month supply is considered to be a balanced market, NYSAR says. Inventory stood at 59,771, a decrease of 19.3 percent compared to January 2016.
Central New York data
Realtors in Broome County sold 111 existing homes in January, up more than 13 percent from 98 a year ago, according to the NYSAR report. The median sales price fell more than 17 percent to nearly $85,000 from $103,000 a year ago.
In Jefferson County, realtors closed on 69 homes in January, up more than 32 percent from 52 a year ago, and the median sales price fell more than 15 percent to $119,000 from $141,000 in January 2016, per the NYSAR data.
NYSAR also reports that realtors sold 135 homes in Oneida County last month, up from 134 in January 2016. The median sales price fell more than 9 percent to $100,000 from $110,000 a year ago.
Sales of previously owned homes fell to 327 in Onondaga County in January from 328 a year earlier, and the median sales price fell to more than $128,000 from $130,000 a year ago, per the NYSAR report.
All home-sales data is compiled from multiple-listing services in New York state and it includes townhomes and condominiums in addition to existing single-family homes, according to NYSAR.
Contact Reinhardt at ereinhardt@cnybj.com
