Queens Real Estate Market Report January 2019, courtesy of the Queens Home Team at Keller Williams Realty Landmark II. Looking for a real estate agent in Queens NY? Let the Queens Home Team help you with your real estate needs.
Market Snapshot
Happy New Year all! Hopefully your 2019 is off to a peaceful and healthy start. Here at the QHT headquarters, we started the year off pretty busy and that’s usually the case every January. For those of you who don’t know, here in Queens the market tends to slow down during the Holidays (i.e. Nov – Dec), but then as soon as the new year starts, our phones usually begin ringing. The same thing happened this year and so far we have several new buyers and sellers that are motivated and entering the market.
In case you haven’t been keeping up with the news recently, the biggest news in real estate this month is the fact that interest rates went down to their lowest levels in nine months. As soon as it happened we received emails from several lenders that we work with and they all urged us to notify all of our current, future, and potential clients about it. What it means is that it can potentially create more urgency for buyers who would like to lock in a low rate, and it may also spur some demand in the near future. Aside from the lower interest rate news, the other thing we’ve experienced so far this month is the same thing we were experiencing last year, fewer offers, and seemingly less motivated buyers.
This month we put a few new listings on the market, all priced well and all in desirable neighborhoods. All of our new listings had very good turnouts at their first open houses (i.e. 20+ visitors), however, after such good turnouts, we only had a few offers for each one, and most came in below asking price. What seems to be different right now is the mindset of home buyers. In other words, just 2-3 years ago buyers would easily offer at or above asking price because they were scared of missing out or losing the deal. Now it seems that buyers feel like they have an advantage and are instead trying to get a deal. We aren’t sure if it’s the media, economy, or a combination of several factors, but buyers do seem to know that listings are taking a little longer to sell, and that price changes are becoming a lot more common.
Regardless of all this, the good news is that there is still a lot of activity here in Queens. We are still moving our listings and Buyers are out there, but the ones that are making offers are going for the properties that offer the most value for the price. If you’re thinking of selling this year, now may be a great time to do so because the drop in rates will likely create urgency and spur demand while they are down. If you’re looking to buy, now is a great time to move on something and lock in a good rate. If you wait too long, you may end up with a rate at or above 5% like we were seeing for the past 8-9 months.
We’ll continue to watch the market and keep you posted 🙂
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Month’s Supply
What is Month’s Supply? Months of supply is the measure of how many months it would take for the current inventory of homes on the market to sell, given the current pace of home sales. For example, if there are 50 homes on the market and 10 homes selling each month, there is a 5 month supply of homes for sale.
Months of supply is a good indicator of whether a particular real estate market is favoring buyers or sellers. Typically, a market that favors sellers has less than 6 months of supply, while more than 6 months of supply indicates an excess of homes for sale that favors buyers.
Month’s Supply in Queens NY
- Homes on the Market: 4,202
- Homes selling each month: 712
- Month’s Supply: 5.9
Absorption Rate
What is Absorption Rate? Absorption rate is the rate at which homes sell in a given area during a given time period. Absorption rate is calculated by dividing the number of sales in a given month by the number of available homes for sale. For example, if there are 100 homes listed for sale in a certain area, and 10 homes sold over the last month, then the absorption rate is 10/100 = 10%.
An absorption rate of 20% or higher means that homes are selling quickly and the market favors sellers. Lower absorption rates mean that homes are not selling quickly and supply is much greater than demand, favoring buyers.
Absorption Rate in Queens NY
- Pending Sales Last Month: 602
- Homes on the Market: 4,202
- Absorption Rate: 14.3%
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1 Family Homes for Sale in Queens NY
Interest Rates
Queens Home Sales
The Long Island Board of Realtors reported a total of 587 homes during the month of December. This was a DOWN 12.3% from November and DOWN 21.1% compared to December of last year
Specifically, our Queens real estate market report January 2019 shows that Residential home sales were DOWN 19.9%, Condo sales were UP 20%, and Coop sales were DOWN 34% when compared to the same month last year. Over the last 12 months, Queens home sales are DOWN 5.2%.
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2 Family Homes for Sale in Queens
Queens Home Prices
The median home price in Queens was $610,000 in December, that’s UP 4.3% from November, and UP 10.9% from December of last year. The median home price has increased by approximately $60,000 since last year.
Specifically, our Queens real estate market report January 2019 shows that the median home price for residential homes in Queens was UP 5.3%, median home price for Condos was UP 14.2%, and the median home price for Coops was UP 5.3% compared to December of last year. Over the last 12 months, the median home price in Queens is UP 9.6%.
Average Home Prices
Last month, the average home price for Queens real estate were as follows:
- Average sale price for a residential home in Queens was: $844,668
- Average sale price for a condo in Queens was: $587,880
- Average sale price for a coop in Queens was: $311,027
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3 Family Homes for Sale in Queens NY
Queens Housing Inventory
There is currently a 5.9-month supply of housing inventory in Queens, this is down from the 6.1-month supply we had in November, and UP from the 4.5 month’s supply we had at this time last year. There are currently 4,202 homes for sale in Queens. That’s DOWN 6.2% from last month, and UP 23.4% compared to this time last year when there were 3,404 homes for sale in Queens.
Queens real estate market report provided by the Queens Home Team at Keller Williams Realty Landmark II.
About Us
The Queens Home Team is a group of friendly, service driven real estate agents in Queens NY. Our team members are not only experts at what they do, but more importantly, they are driven by their desire to help people. The team approach is what truly separates us from the average Queens broker, because while most agents are one person doing several things, we have several agents doing one thing, and being great at it! This ensures expertise throughout all stages of the transaction and allows us to provide the superior level of service our clients deserve. We understand that real estate is a service industry, therefore we treat it as such. Rest assured that when you work with the Queens Home Team, you’ll be in good hands, with people who care 🙂
*The opinions expressed in This Queens Real Estate Market Report are intended to supplement opinions on real estate expressed by local and national media, local Queens real estate agents and other expert sources. You should not treat any opinion expressed on this report as a specific inducement to make a particular investment or follow a particular strategy, but only as an expression of opinion. The Queens Home Team at Keller Williams Realty Landmark II does not guarantee and is not responsible for the accuracy or completeness of information, and provides said information without warranties of any kind. All information presented herein is intended and should be used for educational purposes only. Nothing herein should be construed as investment advice. You should always conduct your own research and due diligence and obtain professional advice before making any investment decision. All investments involve some degree of risk. The Queens Home Team will not be liable for any loss or damage caused by your reliance on information contained in this report.