Albany, NY – February 21, 2014 – (RealEstateRama) — The New York State housing market started 2014 on solid footing with closed and pending sales falling minimally from the significant gains posted in January 2013, according to the housing market report released today by the New York State Association of REALTORS. The statewide median sales price continued to grow as it did throughout 2013, posting a 10.1-percent increase compared to last January.
“Given the seasonal nature of our housing market, and taking into account the harsh winter weather much of our state has experienced, the Empire State housing market did well in January,” said Duncan MacKenzie, NYSAR CEO. “For all practical purposes, both closed and pending sales totals were comparable to last January’s strong levels. Additionally, constrained inventory has continued to drive price growth as sellers are seeing 95 percent of their list price on average when they get to the closing table.”
The months supply of inventory fell 21 percent in January to 7.9 months supply. It was at 10 months in January 2013. A 6 month to 6.5 month supply is considered to be a balanced market. Inventory stood at 73,570 units in January 2014, a decrease of 11.5 percent compared to January 2013.
“Consumer demand so far this winter has trumped several significant snowfalls and gives us cautious optimism that the pace of home sales will not retreat significantly from the strong 2013 gains,” said MacKenzie. “Still, we are keeping our eyes on potential market-movers such as the pace of the overall economy, job growth and potential amendments to the National Flood Insurance Program.”
There were 6,603 closed sales in January, down 1.4 percent from the January 2013 total of 6,696.
The statewide median sales price reached $238,500, an increase of 10.1 percent compared to the January 2013 median of $216,705.
Pending sales were down 1 percent to 6,911 in January 2014 compared to 6,983 in January 2013.
Additional data is available at http://www.nysar.com/industry-resources/market-data
Editor’s Note: All data is compiled from multiple listing services in the state of New York and the data now include townhomes and condominiums in addition to existing single-family homes.
The New York State Association of REALTORS is a not-for-profit trade organization representing more than 47,000 of New York State’s real estate professionals. The term REALTOR is a registered trademark, which identifies real estate professionals who subscribe to a strict code of ethics as members of the National Association of REALTORS. These REALTORS are also members of the New York State Association of REALTORS as well as their local board or association of REALTORS.
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Salvatore I. Prividera Jr.
Director of Communications
518-463-0300×208 office
sprividera (at) nysar (dot) com
