ALBANY – Interest rates ballooned to the highest monthly average in two decades and housing inventory declined yet again in October, slowing home sales even further across the Empire State, according to the housing report released today by the New York State Association of Realtors.
Inventory of homes for sale fell 12 percent from 44,379 units in October 2021 to just 39,064 homes available last month. This marks the 36th consecutive month of declining inventory available in year-over-year comparisons.
According to Freddie Mac, mortgage interest rates soared to 6.90 percent in September for the first time since January 2002, when the monthly average on a 30-year fixed rate mortgage stood at seven percent. This marks over a half percent jump from last month when the monthly average commitment rate was 6.11 percent.
Closed sales declined 22.8 percent in October from 14,379 sales in October 2021 to just 11,105 homes in October 2022. Pending sales were also down, falling 18 percent in year-over-year comparisons from 12,959 units last year to 10,626 homes in October 2022. New listings dropped from 15,596 homes in October 2021 to 12,857 listings last month. This represents a 17.6 decline from a year ago.
The median sales price of homes across New York State increased marginally in October, rising from $368,000 in October 2021 to $370,000 last month, marking a 0.5 percent increase.
