Low inventory continues to limit market
ALBANY, N.Y.» Regional home sales in December 2017 continued to ride the year’s overall trend, with pending sales increasing by three percent over December 2016, according to a monthly report by the Greater Capital Association of Realtors.
The 653 pending sales are slightly above the 636 reported in December 2016, indicating decreasing sales has less to do with lost buyer interest and more to do with the continued low inventory in the Capital Region and throughout the nation, the report said.
The number of new listings dipped from 813 in December 2016 to 707 last month, a 13 percent reduction that affected inventory levels marketwide, causing a decrease of nearly 23 percent. This has been the trend for the year, with December showing one of the sharpest decreases in inventory compared to the previous year.
Months’ supply of inventory was also down to 4.5 months, a 25-percent decrease.
“The lack of supply over the past year has been eyeopening and is why, even with strong job creation pushing wages higher, home price gains — at 5.8 percent nationally in 2017 — doubled the pace of income growth and were even swifter in several markets,” National Association of Realtors chief economist Lawrence Yun said in a news release.
Capital Region prices showed only a slight increase compared to last year at this time, with the median sales price up 1 percent to $192,000.
“Buyers seeking limited inventory usually create upward pressure on sales prices,” Greater Capital Association of Realtors president Susan Sommers said in the release. “With inventory down by more than 1,300 listings over last year, it’s surprising prices aren’t experiencing a stronger impact.”
In Rensselaer County the average residential sale price increased by 673 percent, to $290,286, in the December-toDecember comparison. Along with that rise, closed sales increased by 25 percent. However, new listings decreased by 19 percent.
Across the river in Albany County, with a 5 percent increase to a $246,779 average residential sale price, new listings decreased by 20 percent and closed sales decreased by 1 percent, though pending sales rose by 28 percent in the same time period.
To the north, in Saratoga County, where the average residential sale price increased seven percent to $318,095 from December 2016 to December 2017, both listings and closed sales were down in that time period, although pending sales increased by 23 percent.
Overall, current listings on the Capital Region market are getting snapped up by eager buyers. The average days on market dropped by 10.5 percent, to 67 days. Buyer demand remains high and economic indicators that predict buying activity are largely positive. Percent of original list price received at sale is reported at 94 percent.
Housing demand remained strong in 2017, even in the face of higher mortgage rates. The median price of residential new construction rose by 12 percent to $411,712 in the Capital Region from December to December.
“More listings and more housing starts are anticipated in 2018,” Greater Capital Association of Realtors CEO Laura Burns said in the release, “but it remains to be seen if the increases will be enough to shore up the number of available homes for sale after falling off the past several years.”