New York realtors sold more than 11,500 previously owned homes in August, up more than eight percent from August 2012, according to a monthly report the New York State Association of Realtors (NYSAR) issued today.
Pending sales rose nearly 16 percent to nearly 11,100 last month compared to the August 2012 total of more than 9,500, NYSAR said.
Homebuyers have “clearly” decided that the summer of 2013 was a “great time” to purchase a home in New York,” Duncan MacKenzie, CEO of NYSAR, said in a news release.
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“With one eye on mortgage rates and the other on available inventory, motivated buyers signed contracts at a brisk pace, pushing the pending-sales count to the highest August total since 2006,” MacKenzie said.
The “tight” inventory levels continued to spur statewide price gains as sellers used their “growing” leverage in negotiations, he added.
As a result, statewide median sales price jumped 10 percent to $242,000 this August from $220,000 in the year-earlier period. It’s the highest median sales price for any month since February 2008, according to MacKenzie. It was also the 15th consecutive month of steady or rising statewide median sales prices, while inventory reached its lowest level in August since 2005, he said.
The year-to-date (through Aug. 31) median sales price of more than $226,000 represents a six percent increase from the same period last year, according to NYSAR.
“While the summer months tend to be the busiest in our seasonal market, New York’s realtors project that the current housing-market trends will continue into the fall,” said MacKenzie.
The supply of homes available for sale dropped 22 percent in August to 10 months supply. It stood at 12.8 months in August 2012. A six month to 6.5 month supply is considered a “balanced” market, NYSAR contended.
Inventory stood at 90,890 units in August 2013, a decrease of 12.5 percent compared to August 2012, the realtor organization said.
NYSAR also released August home-sales data for individual counties.
CNY county sales
In Broome County, realtors closed 142 home sales in August, up nearly 3 percent from 138 a year ago. The median sales price fell more than 12 percent to nearly $113,000, compared to more than $129,000 in August 2012.
In Onondaga County, realtors closed 473 home sales in August, down more than seven percent from 509 in the year-earlier period. The median sales price rose nearly four percent to nearly $140,000.
In Oneida County, closed home sales fell more than 11 percent to 168 in August, compared to 189 in the year-ago period. The median sales price rose more than seven percent to $129,000.
Albany–based NYSAR is a nonprofit trade organization representing more than 47,000 New York state realtors.
Contact Reinhardt at ereinhardt@cnybj.com
