Schuyler home sales jump 18.6 percent

SCHUYLER COUNTY--Home sales in 2017 went up 18.6 percent over the previous year, and also increased more than the region and statewide trends compared to 2016.
According to the New York State Association of Realtors, 191 single family homes were sold in Schuyler County last year. This is up from the 161 closed sales in 2016, an 18.6 percent difference. Schuyler County's double digit increase in the number of homes sold in 2017 over 2016, was more than the single digit trend for the entire state last year of 2.4 percent.
The median price for Schuyler County also went up, but only 2.5 percent. NYSAR reported the 2017 median price was $146,075, over the 2016 price of $142,500. Statewide, the median price went up 5.5 percent, and has been increasing since 2014.
This is despite there being 18.2 percent fewer homes on the market for sale on average. According to the Elmira-Corning Regional Association of Realtors, there were an average of 798 available homes for sale in the region each month of 2017. In 2016 there were an average of 976 homes for sale each month. The Elmira-Corning group also stated homes were sold at the list price 94.7 percent of the time last year.
The Elmira-Corning Regional Association of Realtors reported in a statement, "although total sales volumes were mixed, prices were consistently up in most markets. Buyers may not benefit from higher prices, but sellers do, and there should be more listing activity by more confident sellers in 2018."
Changes in sales for the region have mostly matched the overall state trend. Chemung was up 7.3 percent for 2017. Closed sales in both Steuben and Tompkins Counties were up 1.6 percent. Meanwhile, Yates' sales were flat at 0 percent, 2017 over 2016.
According to the Greater Rochester Association of Realtors, 257 Yates County home sales closed last year; the same number of closed sales reported in 2016. The GRAR reported the median sales price for a Yates home was $161,900. This was up from $149,000 in 2016.
Dan Morse, broker/owner of Keuka Lake and Land Realty, said one thing helping increase prices is the sale of farm homes. He explained, "farmland is selling for ridiculous amounts of money."
The number of homes on the market was down as well. The Rochester association reported listings decreased in Yates 14.7 percent as well as in the Finger Lakes in general.
"Inventory is still low and lacking. It's the only thing holding anything back," said Morse. "I know with limited inventory, it's brought up the price on the lake and on the smaller lake, Waneta."
Morse said where there might have been 20 listings before, there's now only two. He added inventory has been low for the last two years.