ALBANY — New York state realtors sold 7,408 previously owned homes in March, down 14.8 percent from the 8,695 homes that were sold in the year-ago period. For the full first quarter, existing homes sales were down less than 1 percent from the comparable period in 2019, indicating that the COVID-19 shutdown in March slowed […]
ALBANY — New York state realtors sold 7,408 previously owned homes in March, down 14.8 percent from the 8,695 homes that were sold in the year-ago period.
For the full first quarter, existing homes sales were down less than 1 percent from the comparable period in 2019, indicating that the COVID-19 shutdown in March slowed a previously strong housing market.
That’s according to the New York State Association of Realtors (NYSAR)’s March housing-market report issued April 21.
Sales data
The March 2020 statewide median sales price was $281,000, up about 4 percent from the March 2019 median of $269,900, according to the NYSAR data.
Pending sales totaled 9,036 homes in March, a decline of 21.1 percent from 11,448 homes in the same month in 2019.
The months’ supply of homes for sale at the end of March was 5.1 months, down about 12 percent from 5.8 months at the conclusion of March 2019.
A 6-month to 6.5-month supply is considered to be a balanced market, NYSAR says.
The number of homes for sale totaled 57,884 this March, down more than 10 percent from 64,583 in the prior-year period.
New listings also fell 25.4 percent to 14,005 homes — from 18,778 units a year earlier.
The residential real-estate industry ground to a halt in the state in the latter part of March with the New York State on PAUSE shutdown of non-essential businesses. Real-estate agents, home inspectors, and appraisers were initially deemed non-essential so in-person home showings, inspections, and appraisals stopped. Empire State Development Corp., however, reversed that decision on April 1 and declared the real-estate industry an essential business that can operate during the state’s business shutdown. Open houses are still banned.
Central New York data
Realtors in Onondaga County sold 249 existing homes in March, down more than 21 percent from the 316 homes sold in the same month in 2019. The median sales price rose about 11 percent to $155,000 from nearly $140,000 a year ago, according to the NYSAR report.
NYSAR also says that realtors sold 102 homes in Oneida County in March, down more than 6 percent from the 109 sold during March 2019. The median sales price increased 5 percent to nearly $130,000 from more than $123,000 a year earlier.
Realtors in Broome County sold 90 existing homes in March, down more than 27 percent from 124 a year ago, according to the NYSAR report. The median sales price increased about 18 percent to $115,000 from nearly $97,000 a year prior.
Bucking the down trend in home sales was Jefferson County, where realtors closed on 80 homes in March, up over 31 percent from 61 a year ago. But the median sales price of $115,000 was down about 6 percent from $122,000 a year earlier, according to the NYSAR data.
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.