New York Home Buyer Alert: First Home Price Drop in Albany Region Since 2000
The slowing state and national housing market had affected the Albany region in 2006 to the tune of fewer sales. But for the first time since 2000, prices also dropped last month.
The median sale price of a single-family home in the region tumbled 4 percent in September, down to $187,000, compared to the same period of time in 2005, according to figures released Monday by the Greater Capital Association of Realtors.
It was the first time in six years that the median price fell on a year-over-year basis, said GCAR Executive Vice President James Ader. The bad news for sellers looking to turn a profit may be good news for home mortgage loan applicants in the area.
The decline may be temporary, however. Preliminary sales figures for October indicate prices are rising again, Ader said. The official numbers will be released in November.
“It’s a blip,” Ader said of September’s decline. “But it’s a blip that recognizes it’s a different market than we’ve seen in five years.”
The total number of units sold in Albany, Montgomery, Rensselaer, Saratoga, Schenectady and Schoharie counties also continued to decline in September. There were 940 closed sales in September, compared to 1,027 in September 2005.
Through the first nine months of the year, 7,716 homes sold in the six counties, a 2 percent decline over the same period in 2005.
“The regional market continues to perform very well but it appears that buyers have more negotiating leverage now than they have had for several years,” said GCAR President John McNamara. “That change in dynamics has caused sellers to readjust their thinking about what their home might be worth on the market.”
Even with the September-to-September drop in prices, the median sale price through the first nine months of the year in the region grew 6 percent, to $189,900.
GCAR is projecting that the decline in the market will convince more buyers the time is right to make a purchase. The organization expects an increase in applications for New York home mortgages as values remain lowered. That should cause the market to balance out in six or nine months, meaning neither buyers nor sellers will have the edge in negotiations.
The biggest drop in total sales through the first nine months of the year occurred in Schenectady County, where 1,377 homes have sold, an 8 percent decline. Montgomery County continued to buck the trend with 198 homes sold, a 37 percent jump.
The median sales price has also appreciated at the highest rate in Montgomery County so far this year, rising 38 percent to $106,500.