Median sale price in April rose 6.3% to $144,501
$160,000 2019
$144.501 $140,000
$120,000
$100,000
$80,000
$60,000
$40,000
$20,000
$0
1999 2002 2005 2008 2011 2014 2017 Change in price from the same month the year before. Source: Buffalo Niagara Association of Realtors
Home prices aren’t rising as fast as they were during the late spring last year, but they’re still rising steadily. With the number of homes for sale at a more than 20-year low, the median price of the homes that sold during April rose
6.3% to $144,501. While that was a record high for April, the increase was slightly slower than the 7.5% rise in median prices during all of last year.
Change in average annual monthly home sales
16%
12%
8%
4%
0%
-4%
-8% 2019
-3.6%
-12%
2002 2004 2006 2008 2010 2012 2014 2016 2018
Change in the average home sales for the trailing 12 months ending in April. Source: Buffalo Niagara Association of Realtors
With buyers scrambling for a small supply of homes and grappling with steadily rising prices, the pace of home sales has been slowing for two straight years. After falling by 1.6 percent during 2017, home sales dropped by 2 percent last year, based on revised data from the real estate trade group. The trend continued into April, with sales over the preceding 12 months down by 3.6 percent.
Homes that sold during April were on the market for an average of 55 days
100 Days
80 2019
55 days
60
40
20
0
2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019
Source: Buffalo Niagara Association of Realtors
Homes still are selling briskly in a market with low inventory and mortgage rates still relatively low. The average home that sold during April was on the market for 55 days, the same as last April, but 18 days faster than 2016. Home sellers also are able to hold fairly firm to their asking price. The average home that sold last month went for 97.6 percent of its most recent asking price.
Fewer homes are for sale, but new listings are on the rise
8,000
6,000
2019
2,523
4,000
2,000
0
1998 2002 2006 2010 2014 Active listings for April of each year. Source: Buffalo Niagara Association of Realtors
The number of homes for sale fell by 1.7 percent last month – extending a seven-year decline in inventory that had been briefly interrupted by a small uptick in listings during January. But new listings rose by nearly 5 percent during April, and are running 1 percent above last year’s pace through the first four months of the year – a sign that the inventory shortage could be bottoming out.
The Buffalo News, May 15, 2019
