ALBANY – Median sales prices rose once again in the Empire State in March while the number of homes available for sale has reached critically low levels, according to the housing report released today by the New York State Association of Realtors.
Inventory of homes for sale across New York State fell 22.6 percent from 39,707 homes available in March 2021 to just 30,724 units last month. Months’ supply of inventory declined 25 percent from 3.2 months of inventory in March 2021 to just 2.4 months in March 2022. A 6-month to 6.5-month supply is considered to be a balanced market.
Median sales prices continued to rise, reaching $410,000 in March 2022 compared to $362,315 in March 2021. This represents a 13.2 percent increase. Median sales prices have now increased for 23 consecutive months in year-over-year comparisons.
New listings were down 4.7 percent in March – from 17,783 in 2021 to 16,951 new listings in 2022. Closed sales also fell from 11,412 in March 2021 to only 10,350 last month. However, pending sales increased slightly, inching up 3.1 percent in March – from 13,507 homes in 2021 to 13,919 units in 2022.
Mortgage interest rates jumped over a quarter of a point in March. According to Freddie Mac, the monthly average on a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage rose from 3.76 percent in February 2022 to 4.17 percent in March 2022. This is the first- time interest rates have averaged over four percent since May 2019.
