Central New York Housing Market Slows

Fewer houses are selling in and throughout Central New York, as the real estate market slows down across the country.

Places like California and Florida are taking the hardest tumble, but locally in and around Syracuse, N.Y., it’s also turning into a “buyer’s market.”

Realtors say that as many as 75 percent of houses were selling, now as few as 33 percent, even as Central New York mortgage costs remain low.

We spoke with some people who did everything right: a couple expecting their first baby and a woman looking to downsize.

Jason Eaton and Kira Crawford are already putting their stamp on their new home. A couple of months ago, they decided on Westcott to raise their family and got pre-approved for a mortgage loan.

Kira says, “We got calls from our agent, Steve Moyer, ‘you gotta look, it’s just for you this is what you want, what you need.’”

Several other people wanted it, as well. Kira and Jason took a different approach. They got to know the neighbors and even wrote a letter to the owners.

“We included a picture of the sonogram, said we wanted to raise a family here, very excited about the schools, and we understood that they like oysters, so we got a can and sent that as well,” Jason says.

It worked. There were five offers, but the owners chose them and after the New York mortgage was approved, the couple had itself a new place to call home.

Over in Eastwood, Michele Robison is looking forward to the next phase of her life, downsizing from a three-bedroom colonial.

Michele put the house on the market on a Wednesday evening. Visitors came by Thursday and by Friday there was an offer for her asking price, $84,900. The house was sold.

The top two things realtors say to do: stage your home and make it move-in ready. Michele already lives clutter-free, so the staging part was done.

While Upstate New York housing markets never saw the kind of home price explosion seen elsewhere, they did see growth - and now, they will see a bit of a sluggish period.

Realtors also recommend sellers get a “pre-listing home inspection” to make sure there are no surprises. National real estate experts are predicting it will be a buyer’s market through 2008.

SOURCE: NewsChannel 9 WSYR