Sales of single-family homes in the Albany, N.Y., area fell 17.4% in August from year-earlier levels, and real estate officials are blaming a 9% drop in inventories and steep prices for newly constructed homes for the decline.
The number of new listings, while down 3.2% so far this year, edged 1.5% during August from the year-earlier level.
Pending sales were down 16.7% in August and are running 6.1% below year-earlier levels for the first eight months.
The data are from the Greater Capital Association of Realtors and cover a nine-county area including the Albany metro.
The average sale price was up 0.5% in August to $249,245, and is 2.5% ahead for the first eight months, at $244,685. But lower mortgage rates and higher salaries have made homes more affordable. The buyer earning the median income and financing the purchase with a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage had nearly twice the income required — 192% — to purchase the median-priced home.
But that’s as long as the buyer is seeking a brand new home. The average price of a newly constructed home was $378,000, said Laura Burns, CEO of the association.
The average number of days it took to sell a house stood at 52, unchanged from August 2018, but the lowest figure for the past 12 months.
Sellers in August received 95.9% of their asking price, down from 96.3% a year earlier.
Published by National Mortgage News, Oct. 11, 2019
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