New York home sales rise 7 percent in November, CNY numbers mixed

ALBANY, N.Y. — New York realtors completed the sale of more than 9,000 previously owned homes in November, up more than 7 percent compared to the same month in 2014. It’s the highest sales total for the month since 2009.

Year to date, through Nov. 30, realtors sold more than 105,000 homes in the state, up nearly 8 percent from the same period last year.

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

“With 11 months in the books, we can safely say that 2015 has been a solid year for the housing market,” Duncan MacKenzie, CEO of NYSAR, said in a news release. “Home sales were nearly 8 percent ahead of last year’s pace and pending sales posted double-digit growth [up 12.5 percent]. The Empire State is poised for this to be the strongest market since 2007.”

NYSAR does not expect the Federal Reserve’s recent decision to raise interest rates will have “an immediate significant impact,” he added.

“While many economists expect mortgage rates to move marginally higher during 2016, the increase is not expected to be dramatic and neither should the consequence on home sales,” MacKenzie said.

The November 2015 statewide median sales price in New York was $230,000, up 2.2 percent from the November 2014 median. The year-to-date (Jan. 1 through Nov. 30) median sales price of $230,000 was also up 2.2 percent compared to the first 11 months of 2014.

November 2015 pending sales increased nearly 18 percent from a year ago to reach 9,034.

The months supply of inventory dropped more than 16 percent at the end of November to an 8.1 month supply. It stood at 9.7 months at the end of November 2014.

NYSAR considers a 6 month to 6.5 month supply a “balanced market.” The number of homes for sale totaled 83,155, a decrease of about 6 percent compared to November 2014.

Central New York data

Realtors in Broome County sold 117 existing homes in November, up more than 10 percent from 106 a year ago, according to the NYSAR report. The median sales price rose more than 8 percent to $111,702 from $103,250 a year ago.

In Jefferson County, realtors closed on 66 homes in November, down 15 percent from 78 a year ago, and the median sales price fell less than 1 percent to $159,075 from $160,000 in November 2014.

NYSAR also reports that realtors sold 165 homes in Oneida County last month, up nearly 8 percent from 153 in November 2014. The median sales price fell almost 7 percent to $111,250 from $119,360 a year ago.

Sales of previously owned homes declined more than 5 percent to 330 in Onondaga County in November from 349 a year earlier, and the median sales price decreased about 4 percent to $131,125 from $137,120 a year ago, according to 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