Upstate New York Housing Markets Continue to Grow Steadily
The Greater Binghamton, N.Y., housing market softened slightly in April, according to statistics released by the Greater Binghamton Association of Realtors.
While the average selling price of a home in April rose to $123,365 from $111,275 a year ago, it ruined a four-month streak of home prices moving solidly upward.
In March, the average selling price of a home was $127,815. The median selling price was $105,000, down from $117,750 last month, but up from $93,250 a year ago.
Regardless of trends, Upstate New York continues to offer steady growth and affordable mortgage loan costs across the board.
At a time when housing markets are in turmoil across the nation, and home loan foreclosure rates are spiking, New York mortgage bargains abound in Upstate cities and towns.
Central and Western New York, in particular, have remained safe from price drops so far. In that same period, the number of Binghamton-area homes sold fell by 30. Only 134 homes were sold, down from 164 in March.
The number looks worse compared to last April, when 196 homes were sold. It was the weakest April in terms of number of home sales in the association’s report, which includes statistics from 2001 and beyond.
“I think we have had some softening of the market,” said Billie Briggs, the association’s president.
So far, Greater Binghamton and Central New York mortgage activity as a whole haven’t been hurt as badly as other markets across the nation.
“I don’t think it’s impacted our housing market tremendously,” she said. “It’s still a very busy market, but I would say, overall, we’ve had some softening.”
Most popular with buyers are homes between $200,000 and $250,000, Briggs said. Homes priced higher aren’t selling that well.
“The buyers aren’t there for the higher end, but that’s not the case for the lower end,” she said, adding that such fluctuations in the market are common. “That just happens to be the case for right now.”
The association reported $16.5 million in sales in April, down from March’s $21 million in sales and last year’s $21.8 million in sales.
Several trends are at work dragging that number down.
“There’s a lot of new-home buyers, first-time home buyers, people moving into the area, and people sizing down, as well,” Briggs said. “They’re going to a smaller home.”
SOURCE: Press & Sun-Bulletin