CAPITAL REGION — The Capital Region housing market saw a continued decrease in sales and increase in price in 2018, with nearly 11,825 single-family residential sales at a median price of $211,000.
The data were compiled and released last week by the Greater Capital Association of Realtors from its Eastern New York Regional Multiple Listing Service, through which many but not all of the properties sold in the Capital Region are listed.
The MLS encompasses Albany, Fulton, Montgomery, Rensselaer, Saratoga, Schenectady and Saratoga counties, and GCAR’s statistics also include some sales in nearby areas outside those counties.
Among towns and cities individually tallied by GCAR, Saratoga Springs remained the most expensive Capital Region housing market in 2018, with 383 closed sales at a median $429,900 price.
The number of closed sales and median prices for 2018 in the other towns and cities were:
- Albany 668, $177,000
- Bethlehem 464, $285,450
- Clifton Park 697, $305,000
- Cohoes 124, $175,250
- East Greenbush 256, $201,300
- Glenville 270, $215,000
- Guilderland 378, $252,500
- Halfmoon 331, $355,000
- Malta 218, $332,974
- Niskayuna 385, $260,000
- North Colonie 503, $286,685
- Rotterdam 454, $170,000
- South Colonie 436, $221,000
- Schenectady 532, $104,900
- Troy 242, $146,280
- Wilton/Gansevoort 199, $349,000
GCAR said the outlook for the local housing market is good at the start of 2019, with a potentially increased number of houses coming on the market for sale. But it said many houses that will be offered for sale may be too expensive for first-time buyers, due to slow wage growth.
GCAR President Jay Christiana said: “While our local inventory levels decreased last month, even the small increase in new listings should begin to bring some relief in the first quarter of 2019.”
Some notable statistics and housing market details from 2018:
- Average days on market from listing to sale declined from 66 in 2017 to 58 in 2018.
- Average percentage of original asking price received rose from 94.9 percent in 2017 to 95.6 percent in 2018.
- Houses in 2018 were 11.6 percent less affordable than in 2017 on an index comparing median household income to median home sale price.
- The 12-month average inventory of houses for sale dropped 11.9 percent from 5,662 to 4,985.
- Previously owned houses saw a greater increase in median sale price than newly constructed houses.
- Houses priced $225,001 to $400,000 sold fastest — 52 days on average.
- Houses priced below $125,001 were the slowest to sell — 80 days on average.
Housing prices also continued their upward march elsewhere in the state, according to the New York State Association of Realtors, which represents more than 55,000 real estate industry professionals.
NYSAR said last week that 2018 was the fifth consecutive year of price increases. The statewide median price was $265,000 in 2018, compared with $225,00 in 2014. As is often the case, prices rose as supply fell: NYSAR tallied 59,889 houses placed on the market in New York 2018, compared with 87,621 in 2010.
2018 saw the first year-over-year decrease in closed sales in five years, NYSAR noted, blaming decreasing supply and housing prices that rose faster than wages did.
COUNTY STATISTICS
The following list shows the number of home sales closed and the median price paid in Capital Region counties in 2018, with percentage change from calendar year 2017:
- Albany 2,939 -1% $222,000 3%
- Fulton 471 -7% $117,500 8%
- Montgomery 289 -3% $108,500 -1%
- Rensselaer 1,577 4% $185,000 4%
- Saratoga 2,964 -2% $299,750 5%
- Schenectady 1,891 3% $169,000 7%
- Schoharie 300 -12% $130,000 9%
Categories: -News-, Business, Saratoga County, Schenectady County, Your Niskayuna
