New York home sales slide more than 9 percent in August

Image Credit: NYSAR

ALBANY — New York realtors sold 10,581 previously owned homes in August, down 9.1 percent from 11,638 existing homes sold in August 2023. Pending sales also dipped in August, pointing to further declines in closed home sales in the next couple months, the New York State Association of Realtors (NYSAR) said in its August housing […]

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ALBANY — New York realtors sold 10,581 previously owned homes in August, down 9.1 percent from 11,638 existing homes sold in August 2023. Pending sales also dipped in August, pointing to further declines in closed home sales in the next couple months, the New York State Association of Realtors (NYSAR) said in its August housing report issued Sept. 19.  “Prices of homes across New York jumped again in August while inventory across the state declined once more,” NYSAR said to open the report. Mortgage rates continued to drop during the summer months, NYSAR said. It cited Freddie Mac as indicating interest rates on a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 6.50 percent in August, dropping three-tenths of a percent. For comparison, in August 2023, interest rates stood at 7.07 percent. New York sales data Pending home sales in New York totaled 10,097 in August, a drop of 2.9 percent from 10,394 pending sales in the same month in 2023, according to the NYSAR data. The total inventory of homes for sale in the state totaled 27,851 in August, a decline of 6.5 percent from the August 2023 figure of 29,787. New listings of homes for sale fell 5.8 percent to 12,522 this August from 13,297 in the year-ago month. The months’ supply of homes for sale at the end of August stood at 3.1 months’ supply, down from 3.3 months’ supply from the end of August 2023, per NYSAR’s report. A 6-month to 6.5-month supply is considered a balanced market, the association said. Amid the tight supply, home prices in the Empire State continued to surge higher in the latest month. The August 2024 statewide median sales price was nearly $445,000 up 8.5 percent from the August 2023 median sales price of $410,000.  
Eric Reinhardt: