Median Home Price Continues to Creep Up
The Capital Region’s 2022 real estate market was a year of ups and downs, including interest rates, inflation, and sales prices, and the downs marking inventory, housing affordability, and days on the market.
Higher mortgage rates are impacting prospective sellers – many of whom are in homes with the atypical low mortgage rates of 2019 – 2021 and may be considering waiting out the cool weather and market to make a move. As a result, the inventory of homes for sale at the end of December was 1,733 units – a 16% decline from December 2021. At 1.8 months, unsold inventory sits at a lower number than in November, but rose slightly above December 2021.
Home sales decreased by 3.6% comparing November to December 2022 yielding a year-over-year 28% decline (to 932) in closed sales (down from 1,296 in December 2021). Greater Capital Association of REALTORS® CEO, Laura Burns, commented, “The reduction in pending sales last month was not unexpected – it’s a seasonal occurrence. Most people prefer not to move in December. Still, there were about 7,000 showings last month.”
Prices were up compared to last year at this time. The median sales price last month was $274,000, an increase of 7.5 percent from December 2021.
“Home prices nationwide are still positive, though mildly,” NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun. “Markets in roughly half of the country are likely to offer potential buyers discounted prices compared to last year.”
The percentage of the original list price received at sale was down compared to this time last year. Sellers received 97.5 percent of their original list price – still a high percentage. Buyers should consider the current rate of approximately 6% for a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage is still well below the historical average of about 8 percent for a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage.