Home Sales – Columbia County Current

Albany, NY – November 19, 2020 – As the weather gets colder, the New York housing market continues to heat up. Sales remained at higher than normal levels amid continued low inventory across the Empire State, according to the housing report released today by the New York State Association of REALTORS^®.

Closed sales in New York State continued to be robust, jumping 16.6 percent from 12,853 units in October 2019 to 14,981 last month. Pending sales skyrocketed to 16,333 homes – a 38.8 percent increase from the 11,766 total in October of last year. Year-to-date, pending sales are also up 6 percent in 2020 with 126,681 homes compared to 119,462 in 2019. New listings were also on the rise, up 9.7 percent for October – from 16,732 units in 2019 to 18,359 in 2020.

Housing inventory remained low through October. The 51,351 units represented a 20.9 percent decrease compared to 64,930 homes last year at the same time. Months supply of inventory dropped 23.2 percent – from 5.6 months to 4.3 months.

The median sales price in the Empire State surged 24.5 percent in October, from $273,000 to $340,000 in year-over-year comparisons. The average sales price also jumped from $362,572 to $441,020 – an increase of 21.6 percent compared to this time last year.

Low mortgage rates helped maintain the strong housing market in October. According to Freddie Mac, the monthly average on a 30-year fixed rate mortgage in October fell to 2.83 percent. This is the eleventh consecutive month the average monthly rate has decreased.

Data and analysis compiled for the New York State Association of REALTORS^® by Showing Time Inc.

Jeff McKinney is an Associate Real Estate Broker in Columbia County, NY (Beach & Bartolo Realtors ~ 34 Main St., Chatham NY 12037 ~ 518-392-2700). Connect with him on Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, or Pinterest.

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January existing-home sales show fastest seasonally adjusted annual sales growth in almost 10 years. According to the National Association of Realtors (NAR), existing-home sales increased 3.3 percentage points to a seasonally adjusted annual rate (SAAR) of 5.69 million — up from an upwardly revised 5.51 million in December. This sales pace is 3.8 percentage points above January 2015 and is the fastest SAAR sales pace in nearly a decade.

The median existing-home price for all housing types in January rose 7.1 percentage points to $228,900, which marks the 59th consecutive month of year-over-year gains. Total housing inventory experienced a boost as well, with a 2.4 percentage point jump to 1.69 million homes for sale — a much-needed jump from the rock bottom levels seen in December 2016. Despite the strong numbers, inventory is still 7.1 percentage points below January 2016 and is the 20th consecutive month of year-over-year declines. Unsold inventory is at an unchanged 3.6-month supply.

Distressed sales, which include foreclosures and short sales, were at 7 percent — unchanged from December and a 9 percentage point drop from January 2016. Five percent of January sales were foreclosures, and 2 percent were short sales.

Single-family home sales were at a SAAR of 5.04 million — a 2.6 percentage point month-over-month increase and a 3.7 percentage point year-over-year increase. The sales price for single-family homes increased by 7.3 percentage points to $230,400.

Existing condominium and co-op sales rose 8.3 percentage points to a SAAR of 650,000 units, 4.8 percentage points higher than a year ago. The median existing condo price was $217,400 in January — up 6.2 percentage points from 2016.

Buying Patterns Across the Country:

The Northeast, South and West experienced strong growth, while the Midwest took a small hit.

In the Northeast, existing-home sales jumped 5.3 percent to an annual rate of 800,000, up 6.7 percent from a year ago.
Median price: $253,800, a 2.5 percent year-over-year decrease.

In the Midwest, existing-home sales decreased 1.5 percent to an annual rate of 1.29 million.
Median price: $174,900, a 6.5 percent year-over-year increase.

In the South, existing-home sales rose 3.6 percent to an annual rate of 2.31 million. Median price: $201,400, a 9.2 percent year-over-year increase.

In the West, existing-home sales ascended 6.6 percent to an annual rate of 1.29 million. Median price: $332,300, an 6.8 percent year-over-year increase.

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