Median New York Home Price Rises to $232,000

The Mortgage-Pro · Site Admin Joined: 19 Jan 2005 Posts: 2248

Albany, N.Y.(AP) — The cost of buying an existing single-family home soared by nearly 37 percent in New York state between 2002 and 2004, prompting a real estate agents' group to warn that some people are in danger of being priced out of their local housing markets.

The median resale value of single-family homes rose from $169,500 in 2002 to $232,000 in 2004, according to the New York State Association of Realtors. The comparable figures for national single-family sales were $158,100 in 2002 and $184,100 in 2004.

Price increases were gaining steam as last year ended, with the median sales price of $278,000 in December, up from $214,900 in December 2003.

Properties in the Hudson Valley seemed to be gaining value faster than those in any other part of the state. Homes in Westchester County had the highest median resale value in 2004 ($640,000), but those in counties all along the Hudson River were reselling for prices at or near the average statewide increase from 2002-04.

Just south of Albany, the resale value of homes in Columbia County ($215,000 in 2004, up 43 percent from 2002-04) and Greene County ($139,000 in 2004, up 54 percent from 2002-04) experienced particularly large resale spikes.

Homes in Dutchess ($300,000), Rockland ($410,000), Putnam ($385,000), Orange ($260,000) were also reselling at average prices in 2004 above the statewide median.

Charles Staro, chief executive officer of the real estate group, said relatively low interest rates have kept many New Yorkers in the real estate market despite escalating resale prices. But he questioned how long that would continue at the rate of the price increases seen from 2002-04.

“Government and the private sector must work together to ensure that the American Dream of homeownership remains within the grasp of all New Yorkers,” Staro said.

He also said increases in local property taxes are hurting the affordability of homes for some would-be home buyers.

A spokesman for the realtors group, Salvatore Prividera Jr., said it has formed an affordable housing foundation to work with government officials and community groups to improve the availability of moderately priced homes in several areas of the state.

In some counties, such as Westchester, many people who work within the county cannot afford to live there. Communities are better when people who provide crucial services like firefighters, police officers, emergency medical technicians and teachers live locally, he said.

“When someone lives in a community, they are invested it in,” Prividera said. “It helps the community to grow and thrive.”