Albany, NY – November 19, 2020 – As the weather gets colder, the New York housing market continues to heat up. Sales remained at higher than normal levels amid continued low inventory across the Empire State, according to the housing report released today by the New York State Association of REALTORS^®.

Closed sales in New York State continued to be robust, jumping 16.6 percent from 12,853 units in October 2019 to 14,981 last month. Pending sales skyrocketed to 16,333 homes – a 38.8 percent increase from the 11,766 total in October of last year. Year-to-date, pending sales are also up 6 percent in 2020 with 126,681 homes compared to 119,462 in 2019. New listings were also on the rise, up 9.7 percent for October – from 16,732 units in 2019 to 18,359 in 2020.

Housing inventory remained low through October. The 51,351 units represented a 20.9 percent decrease compared to 64,930 homes last year at the same time. Months supply of inventory dropped 23.2 percent – from 5.6 months to 4.3 months.

The median sales price in the Empire State surged 24.5 percent in October, from $273,000 to $340,000 in year-over-year comparisons. The average sales price also jumped from $362,572 to $441,020 –  an increase of 21.6 percent compared to this time last year.

Low mortgage rates helped maintain the strong housing market in October. According to Freddie Mac, the monthly average on a 30-year fixed rate mortgage in October fell to 2.83 percent. This is the eleventh consecutive month the average monthly rate has decreased.

Data and analysis compiled for the New York State Association of REALTORS^® by Showing Time Inc.

Jeff McKinney is an Associate Real Estate Broker in Columbia County, NY (Beach & Bartolo Realtors ~ 34 Main St., Chatham NY 12037 ~ 518-392-2700). Connect with him on Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, or Pinterest.