Housing market holding steady
Tier escapes downfalls of overdevelopment
A home carries a “sold” sign on Allendale Road in Binghamton.
Press & Sun-Bulletin
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Average and median home sale prices in Greater Binghamton increased in 2007, compared to the previous year, in contrast to declines in those prices nationally.
"Real estate is local and our local market has remained steady and strong," said Greater Binghamton Association of Realtors Inc. President Lynda Sardella.
The average selling price of a home in Greater Binghamton increased from $119,317 in 2006 to $128,114 in 2007, according to data from the Greater Binghamton Association of Realtors, which includes sales from Broome and Tioga counties and parts of Chenango County and northern Pennsylvania.
The median selling price of an area home increased from $95,000 in 2006 to $110,000 in 2007, the association said. That 15.8 percent increase put the region on Forbes magazine's top 10 list of "sizzling housing markets" in November.
By comparison, average housing prices in the U.S. decreased 1.9 percent for existing homes and 2.1 percent for new homes, according to the National Association of Realtors.
The reason behind the local price increases is supply and demand, said John Burns Jr., owner of Century 21 John Burns Realty in Vestal.
"There were more people chasing fewer properties," Burns said.
While the local price increases were sizable, they don't come close to what other areas have seen over the last several years, Burns said. Even within the state, regions such as Albany and Westchester have housing prices 50 percent higher than Greater Binghamton, he said.
"I don't think we've even come close to catching up to other areas," he said.
His office gets calls from many interested buyers looking to move to the region due to its inexpensive housing, low crime and other marketable features, Burns said. Many are moving from places where real estate costs have skyrocketed.
"We've sold a lot of homes to people in the New York City area," Burns said.
Many housing markets across the country, including those in Nevada, Florida and California, have been hit hard due largely to extensive overdevelopment, Burns said.
"We never got that supply," he said. "We never had that building boom."
The sagging economy, Burns said, has also hurt those markets, as some owners of vacation properties sell off second homes.
The investor-driven real estate markets that have been hit the hardest are a far cry from buyers in Greater Binghamton who are looking for owner-occupied houses, Burns said.
"The people that are buying our real estate live in it," he said.
While figures show the number of houses sold in Greater Binghamton decreased in 2007 compared to the previous year -- 2,165 in 2007 from 2,496 in 2006 -- the market is still strong, said Sardella, also a real estate agent for Re/Max Renaissance Realty in Vestal.
"We're still doing very well," she said.
One reason for a decline, Burns said, is the tightening of the loan process for investors who are looking to purchase non-owner occupied rental units.
"That's where the market has softened up," he said.
The best year on record for Greater Binghamton was 2005 -- the same year Lockheed Martin Systems Integration in Owego hired hundreds of employees to build the presidential helicopter. That year, 2,611 homes sold and gross sales topped $25.4 million.
"It was a great year," Sardella said.
The plentiful inventory of homes, low interest rates, and properly priced houses are encouraging news for those looking to purchase real estate in 2008, she said.
"This is a fantastic time if somebody is considering buying a home," Sardella said.
Properties in our region will sell, whether they're in Binghamton, Vestal, Endicott or Whitney Point, Burns said.
"If something is properly priced, a sale will occur," he said.
On the national stage, trends in existing home sales are expected to increase in 2008, according to the National Association of Realtors, but the sale of new homes will likely take until 2009 to recover from the current slump.
An upswing is expected in the local real estate market in 2008, as empty nesters look to downgrade to smaller homes and young families look to upgrade, Sardella said.
"2008 is going to be a great year," she said, "because the rates are low."
Candice's Notes: Positive articles do exist with actual facts shown correctly.
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