Report: Area real estate market showing some signs of recovery
CAPITAL REGION, N.Y. » Pent up demand is affecting the Capital Region real estate market, according to a recent report from the Greater Capital Association of Realtors.
As the Capital Region makes the shift its way through New York on Pause to New York Forward, the real estate market is showing signs of an initial recovery, the professional trade association’s report said.
Mortgage rates at or below 3.3 percent and the welcomed activity of Phases 2 and 3 of the state’s reopening plan are enabling buyers and sellers to return to what was a busy market in the first quarter of 2020.
Though the effects of COVID-19 in the macroeconomy continue, Capital Region real estate transactions have picked up.
“With realtors experiencing a high level of buyer interest, transaction safety remains a top- of-mind priority,” Greater Capital Association of Realtors president Tom McGroder said in a press release. “Realtors are using live streams for open houses, virtual tour tools and observance of prescribed social distancing for in-person appointments.”
Looking ahead, the factors of low mortgage rates and reopening progress are expected to favorably impact the month over month region’s activity.
May’s number of reported closed sales throughout the Capital Region in May 2020 was 35 percent less than May 2019. Pending sales were also down by 23 percent compared to this time last year.
Also impacted were the number of new listings, which decreased by nearly 39 percent to 1,368 in May.
Exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, inventory continues to skim along at historic lows with 4,100 units available in May, a decrease of 28 percent compared to May of last year.
Sellers who did make a deal in May received an estimated 96 percent of their original list price.
This caused the median residential sale price to increase by 8.6 percent to $235,000.
The Rensselaer County median sale price was $225,000 in May, an 19 percent increase from last year.
Across the River in Albany County, this figure also increased by eight percent to $241,500 for May 2020.
In Saratoga County, the median sale price was $302,000, down slightly from last May.
Throughout the Capital Region, more than 8,000 showings occured over the first two weeks of June.
“It’s evident that as a result of the improved COVID-19 numbers and more relaxed policies, buyers have returned to the market in full force,” Greater Capital Association of Realtors CEO Laura Burns said in the release. “Builders back on the job sites will help the low inventory in the coming months, but right now the market could use motivated sellers to jump in.”