Real estate sales show positive trends

YATES COUNTY--The median sale price of a single family home in Yates County increased 8.3 percent in 2014 compared to 2013, despite the price decreasing overall in New York State.

The Greater Rochester Association of Realtors (GRAR) reported that the median sale price for a Yates County home was $144,000 in 2014. During the same 12 month period in 2013 the median sale price was $133,000.
The number of homes sold also increased. According to the GRAR, 229 homes were sold in Yates County during 2014, compared to 225 homes in 2013. This represents a 1.8 percent increase. Nothnagle Realtor Jim Moon said the 229 homes sold equals a total of $112,209,842. While in 2013, all Yates sales totaled $98,384,612.
The number of days on the market also experienced a slight decrease. The median number of days a house was on the market in 2014 was 65. This was up to a median of 68 days in 2013.
For the state, 2014 sales were down 1.3 percent compared to 2013. The median sales price was also down 0.7 percent.
"I feel the market is strong," said Moon. "The people are very positive. We see potential buyers come in the door, email us, or contact us."
Looking ahead, Moon said "we get a lot of calls for all kinds of property, including lake properties, this time of year." He added he expects the two new hotel projects in Penn Yan to bring more people to the area, which in turn should increase home sales.
In comparison, the number of homes sold in Schuyler County increased 13 percent in 2014 over the previous year of 2013. According to the Elmira-Corning Association of Realtors, 113 single family homes were sold in 2014. This is up from the 100 homes sold in 2013.
The median sales price also went up slightly, .08 percent. In 2014 the median sales price was $125,000 and in 2013 it was $124,900. Cathy Weil, 2015 president of the Elmira-Corning Association of Realtors, cautioned that the numbers may not be complete if not all sales were reported to the organization.
However, Weil said, "I do consider our local market stats to be positive, and instead of mirroring New York State's 2013-14 phrase of 'Two steps forward, one step back,' I would say that in our market, it is more like 'One giant step in 2013, one baby step in 2014,' but all in the right direction."
"The Rochester and Finger Lakes Region continues to see a steady recovery. In the five years since the recession ended, we have seen a consistent increase in all of our sales indicators. Closed sales, median sales price and total dollar volume of sales are all trending higher," said Andy Burke, president of the GRAR.
"These stats, which suggest a change in supply/demand, could have some meaning and predictive ability in terms of value in our local marketplaces, because like everything else, a lack of supply can increase prices. In real estate, though, the demand is hard to predict," said Weil, adding "We, like the rest of New York State and the country, are affected by unemployment rates, interest rates, wage growth, student loan debt, inadequate mortgage liquidity and a myriad of other factors that are out of our control."