New York home sales fell nearly 30 percent in April

ALBANY, N.Y. — New York realtors sold 6,944 previously owned homes in April, a 29.6 percent decline from the 9,857 homes they sold in April 2022.

Pending sales also fell more than 13 percent in the latest month, pointing to further declines in closed home sales in the next couple of months.

That’s according to the April monthly housing report that the New York Association of Realtors (NYSAR) issued on May 18.

“With interest rates continuing to be in flux and inventory of homes reaching record lows, closed sales across New York continue to fall,” NYSAR said to open its report.

Interest rates started April at 6.28 percent on a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage but ended the month at 6.43 percent. NYSAR cites Freddie Mac as indicating the monthly average on a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage settled in at 6.34 percent — slightly down from the 6.54 percent average last month. Freddie Mac is the more common way of referring to the Virginia–based Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation.

New listings in New York tumbled 23.4 percent to 13,040 in April from 17,021 a year ago. Pending sales totaled 10,599 in April, down 13.2 percent from 12,209 pending sales in the same month in 2022, according to the NYSAR data.

Home prices continued to fall in the latest month. The April 2023 statewide median sales price was $389,000, down 2.75 percent from the April 2022 median sales price of $400,000.

The months’ supply of homes for sale at the end of April stood at 3 months’ supply, up from 2.9 months at the end of April 2022. A 6-month to 6.5-month supply is considered to be a balanced market, per NYSAR.

The supply of homes available for purchase continues to show no signs of increasing. The inventory of homes for sale totaled 31,177 in April, down more than 14 percent from 36,369 in April 2022 and off over 26 percent from 42,270 homes in April 2021. It represents the lowest monthly number of homes available in New York state since Showing Time started recording housing statistics in January 2007, NYSAR noted.

All home-sales data is compiled from multiple-listing services in New York, and it includes townhomes and condominiums in addition to existing single-family homes, according to NYSAR.