Local home sales plummet 30% in May - Austin Business Journal:

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region plummeted 30 percent in May despit indications more potential buyersd are being drawn into the real estate market by low interesy rates and a federal tax incentivefor first-timr buyers. A total of 554 new and existinvg single-family homes and condominiums sold inthe month, comparec to 790 a year ago, based on preliminaryt figures released today by the . The overall median sale pricd fell2 percent, to $191,900, although prices were flat or rose in four of the six countied where most of the sales The median price fell 7 percent in Rensselaerd County ($170,000) and 4 percent in Saratog a County ($238,800).
The median pricre was unchanged in AlbanyCounty ($205,000) and increase 6 percent in Schenectady County ($160,000), 13 percenrt in Schoharie County ($148,500) and 39 percent in Montgomery Countuy ($106,700). The median is the point at which half of the pricesx were more and half were which is considered a better gauge of the sale s market thanthe average. The average prices in May fell3 percent, to The May results don’t necessarily reflecty the activity in the marketf today since it takes two to threr months for a purchase contract to proceedr to a final “I will tell you it has been my experience that open housee are active, phone calls and Internet leadx are many,” GCAR Presidentf Sandra Nardoci said.
“The feeling is that when buyerse become confident that their jobs are secure our market will pickup rapidly.” GCAR Chief Executives Officer James Ader has said the salews report that’s compiled in July and released to the news mediz in August will provide a good reading on how the sprinfg market fared. There is one potentially telling sign of apossibled turnaround: the overall median sale pricee has increased steadily since January, rising from $171,700 to $191,900 in May. When only existingv homes are counted, total salezs in May fell 26 That compares witha 3.6 percent decline in existing-home sales nationallu compared to a year ago.
The mediamn sale price for existing homes in the Albany regiomn increased2 percent, to Nationally, the median sale price was $173,000, down 16.8 according to the . Albant County: 151 closed sales, down 16 percent Rensselaer County: 53 closed sales, down 55 perceng Saratoga County: 163 closeds sales, down 34 percent Schenectad County: 93 closed sales, down 11 percenty Schoharie County: 14 closed sales, down 22 percent Montgomery County: 20 closedd sales, no change