06-02-09 – 7:30 a.m. - Home sales in Columbia County have dropped a stunning 73.3 percent over the past two years, according to a report from the New York State Association of Realtors. It is the largest decrease in the state during that period.
Only 12 single-family homes sold in the county in April 2009, down 62.5 percent from 32 homes in April 2008 and 45 in April 2007. In a month-to-month comparison, April sales dropped 37 percent from the 19 houses sold in March 2009. Statewide, home sales dropped 28.1 percent during the past two years and 17 percent in the past year, the association reported. |
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Home prices have also dropped drastically. The median price of a single-family home plummeted 32.6 percent in the county during the past two years. The median home price in April 2009 was $160,000, down from $250,000 in April 2008 and $237,900 in April 2007. The situation make Columbia County an apparent bargain for people in the market for a new house, since the median sale price for a single family home in New York State as a whole is $185,000. That price is down 23.6 percent from two years ago, the association reported.
“It’s a good time to buy because you get more for your money,” said real estate agent Mary Stapleton of Halstead Property in Hudson. “You may have to take a sacrifice if you are trying to sell a house to buy another one, but you can find good deals out there.”
“It is a great time to be buying a home,” concurred real estate agent Bob Weinman of Red Apple Realty in Claverack. Weinman said the reduced sale prices have spurred interest in first-time home buyers. “We are seeing a big influx of first-time buyers, especially with nearly all the sales activity in homes priced below $200,000.”
Weinman predicted that the numbers will be better for May. A quick review of activity in the county, he reported, found that, three-quarters of the way through the month, 20 homes had been sold. “Nearly every one of them sold below $200,000 and three were below $100,000,” Weinman reported.
The longtime residential realtor said that the market turbulence was needed. “It’s the reset button we needed to have hit, because prices started to get out of control,” he said, noting, however, that the industry has been hit hard by the drop in activity. “We have lost some realtors because of the economy, even some longtime ones, who couldn’t deal with the lack of activity.”
Weinman added that the real estate market is cyclical, and Red Apple Realty—which has been in business since the late 1960s—has seen many instances of the market going essentially stagnant. “It doesn’t scare us as much as somebody new in the business, because we have seen these trends before.”
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