The Capital Region real estate market continued to show resilience in March 2013. Evaluating the latest real estate numbers from the Greater Capital Association of Realtors, prices and pending sales rose while inventory and final sales contracts fell. The median home sales price for March edged up nearly 1.0% to $186,900, as compared to the same month last year. The average home sales price rose 8% to $223,134.

Since January 2012, the Albany year-to-year home sales price has risen for 14 consecutive months. For every month since January 2012, when compared to the same month the year prior, the home sales price rose. While the sales price has risen, 2013 inventory of available homes for sale in the Capital Region has contracted. The rising home prices are as much about the improving regional real estate market, increasing demand, growing buyer confidence bouyed by strong national economic indicators, as well as the shrinking supply.

The housing inventory in March 2013 reached a 9.2 months supply, the lowest inventory of homes for sale since before 2010. The current 9.2 months supply of homes marks nearly a 25% reduction in inventory from March 2012, which had a 12.3 months supply of homes for sale. The months supply of inventory indicates the number of months it would take to exhaust the current supply of homes for sale at the current rate of home sales. Generally economists have viewed a 6.0 months supply of inventory as a balanced market. Months supply of available homes greater than 6.0 months are considered buyers’ markets and less than 6.0 months are considered sellers’ markets. However, the current market and buyer activity for the top tier of homes for sale feels much more like a seller’s market than a buyer’s market. Whether it’s a house priced at $150,000 in the city of Albany or $420,000 in Bethlehem, the houses in mint showing condition with a fair market price are generating an overwhelming amount of attention.

In other data, the total number of purchase contracts rose 5.8% from March 2012 to 825 pending home sales contracts. This was the 16th out of 17 months of pending home sales increases. February of 2013 was the only month that saw a dip in pending home sales since November 2011. On average sellers received 92.7% of their list price in March 2013, up 1.5% from March 2012. This is the highest March sale price to list price ratio since before March 2010.

Below is the full Capital Region Skinny. As always, if you have questions or concerns don’t hesitate to contact us.  To search for all that declining inventory of available homes for sale, check out the search pages.