PRESS RELEASE
For immediate release
For additional information contact:
Laura Burns/Executive Officer
Greater Capital Association of REALTORS®
Ph: (518) 464-0191 x16
SUMMER CLOSES OUT WITH INCREASED CLOSINGS!
The third quarter of 2015 has come to a close with numbers pointing toward a healthy, reliable market.
Pending Sales increased nearly 10.5 percent from September 2014. Closed Sales increased 5 percent from last year. Greater Capital Association of REALTORS® President, Cathy Griffin, with Keller Williams Capital District, speculated that the continual improvement of the job market has helped increase sales beyond the summer selling season. “Jobless rates are down, real average and weekly earnings have been up and people are clearly still interested in buying homes.” Inventory rates are proving that out – having declined when compared to this time last year, market-wide, inventory levels were down nearly 11 percent to 7,857 units or 8.9 months.
This is a trend seen nationwide, as inventory shortages dropped over 2.5 percent across the United States. Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist, noted low inventory levels have given sellers some advantages. “Despite persistent inventory shortages, the housing market has made great strides this year, backed by an increasing share of pent–up sellers realizing the increased equity they’ve gained from rising home prices and using it towards trading up or moving into a smaller home,” says Yun.
Prices are up compared to last year at this time. The Median Sales Price increased just over 7 percent to $205,000 with the average increasing over last year by 5 percent to $233,573. 2015 prices have continued to show year-over-year increases through the end of the third quarter. September residential pending sales were up by 12 percent over September 2014 (from 837 to 935). Closed sales were up 6 percent (from 864 to 919).
Sellers are receiving nearly 94 percent of list price at sale. Greater Capital Association of REALTORS® CEO, Laura Burns, expects the market to remain stable in the coming months. “With positive economic news coming from many angles, there are no imminent factors to prepare for beyond the typical seasonal drop-off. The one thing we were anticipating to occur this year, an increase in interest rates, did not happen. That is certain to keep buyers active for quite some time.”
The Greater Capital Association of REALTORS® is a professional trade association officially representing the real estate industry since 1920 (formerly the Albany County Association of REALTORS®) and is the local chapter for the New York State and National Associations of REALTORS®. GCAR is composed of a broad base of professionals including licensed real estate brokers and sales agents, multi-dwelling owners, appraisers, mortgage and banking professionals, title and abstract companies and other companies servicing the real estate industry.
