New York home sales resumed their decline in March

NYSAR housing market data March 2024 (IMAGE CREDIT: NYSAR)

Inventory hits another record low ALBANY — New York homes sales resumed their decline in March after a one-month reprieve in February. New York realtors sold 6,685 previously owned homes this March, down 14.2 percent from the 7,790 homes they sold in the year-ago month, according to the monthly housing report that the New York […]

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Inventory hits another record low

ALBANY — New York homes sales resumed their decline in March after a one-month reprieve in February. New York realtors sold 6,685 previously owned homes this March, down 14.2 percent from the 7,790 homes they sold in the year-ago month, according to the monthly housing report that the New York State Association of Realtors (NYSAR) issued on April 18. This came after New York home sales rose in February for the first time in 30 months, through it was a less than 1 percent increase. The number of homes for sale in New York totaled 23,924 in March, down nearly 15 percent from the 28,060 homes available for sale in March 2023. It’s the lowest number of homes for sale since statistics have been kept in New York state, NYSAR said. It also marks the 13th straight month that inventory has dropped in year-over-year comparisons, it added. Mortgage rates in March continued to rise closer to 7 percent again. NYSAR cited Freddie Mac as indicating interest rates averaged 6.82 percent on a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage. That was up from the 6.78 percent rate in March. A year ago, at this time, the interest rate stood at 6.54 percent. Freddie Mac is the more common way of referring to the Virginia–based Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation.

New York sales data

Pending sales totaled 9,576 in March, a decrease of 2 percent from the 9,776 pending sales in the same month in 2023, according to the NYSAR data. This foreshadows further declines in closed sales in the next couple of months. The March 2024 statewide median sales price was $380,000, up 5.6 percent from the March 2023 median sales price of $360,000. The months’ supply of homes for sale at the end of this March stood at 2.6 months, down more than 7 percent from the 2.8 months’ supply at the end of March 2023, per NYSAR. A 6-month to 6.5-month supply is considered a balanced market, the association said. New listings fell 7.5 percent to 11,790 this March from 12,749 in March 2023. 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.                
Eric Reinhardt: