New York home sales climbed 17 percent in October

Sales of previously owned New York homes increased 17 percent in October in a statewide housing market that “continued to impress.”

That’s according to a monthly housing-market report that the New York State Association of Realtors (NYSAR) released on Wednesday.

The report also indicated pending sales rose nearly 24 percent and the median sales price was up more than 12 percent compared to October 2012.

Buyers are paying the highest percentage of the seller’s list price since 2007, which may bring more homes into the market at a time when inventory is “lacking,” Duncan MacKenzie, CEO of NYSAR, said in a news release.

New York realtors posted more than 9,800 closed sales, up 17 percent from the October 2012 total of more than 8,400 homes sold. Year-to-date (through Oct. 31) closed sales reached more than 89,000 at the end of October, an increase of 13 percent from last year.

Pending sales jumped 24 percent to more than 9,900 in October, which compares to more than 8,000 in October 2012. The year-to-date pending sales total of more than 98,000 is 14 percent higher than the more than 86,000 pending sales during the same period last year, according to NYSAR.

The statewide median sales price reached more than $230,000, an increase of 12 percent compared to the October 2012 median of $205,000. It marks 17 consecutive months of year-over-year median price gains.

The months supply of inventory fell 20 percent in October to 9.5 months supply, down from 11.9 months in October 2012.

A 6 month to 6.5 month supply is considered to be a balanced market, NYSAR said.

Inventory stood at more than 87,700 units in October, a decrease of 11 percent compared to October 2012, according to NYSAR.

CNY county sales

In Broome County, realtors closed 124 home sales in October, up nearly 13 percent from 110 a year ago. The median sales price rose nearly 20 percent to more than $110,000, compared to more than $92,000 in October 2012.

In Onondaga County, realtors closed 409 home sales in October, up more than 3 percent from 395 in the year-earlier period. The median sales price rose nearly 10 percent to $140,000.

In Oneida County, closed home sales fell 3 percent to 152 in October, compared to 157 in the year-ago period. The median sales price rose nearly 7 percent to more than $114,000.

Albany–based NYSAR is a nonprofit trade organization representing more than 47,000 New York state realtors.

Contact Reinhardt at ereinhardt@cnybj.com