Photo Credit: Ryan Homes
If there’s one housing market in the country that’s doing well, it’s the Syracuse and central New York area of the country. Forbes has Syracuse as the second strongest housing market in the country, and CNN Money has it in fifth, as well as naming it in the top 100 real estate markets overall. The average price for homes has remained the same while across the country they’ve gone down. And the foreclosure rate is only .58 per 1,000 homes, the lowest in the country per the Brookings Institution.
The $8,000 government tax credit is getting kudos for stimulating home buying during the period when unemployment in the Syracuse area reached 8.1%, though the highest in the area in 18 years, still lower than the rest of the country. Sales in the third quarter were up 38%, and overall they’re up 12% over the same time period last year.
One area where there’s a dichotomy of feelings is in construction. Construction business overall dropped 17% over the past year, which is a drop in the bucket compared to cities like Orlando, which dropped 72%. But, because of the price of houses in the area, many people who qualify for the $8,000 tax credit have been able to buy new homes as opposed to pre-existing homes. Since new homes come in between $200,000 and $250,000 on average, quite affordable for families that easily fit within the confines of the income limits for the loan.
Because most banking and home lending goes through smaller local banks, there has been none of the type of fallout other communities in the country have suffered with the collapse of the economy. Add to that the fact that Syracuse had already been through its downsizing of manufacturing jobs in the early part of the decade and home prices had already decreased before the recession came about, so it’s easier for many unemployed people to find new jobs, as in the last month the unemployment rate dropped to 7.9%.
All of that, plus low interest rates, are inviting comments like this from Don Radke, president of CNYIS (Central New York Information Service), the local multi-listing service, and president-elect of the Greater Syracuse Association of Realtors:
“The prices, the low interest rates and the tax credits are all coming together. Prices aren’t rising that fast, they’re just starting to go up. If you can buy within the next four to six weeks, you’ll look back at this and say that this was the best time to buy. This is the best time to buy in my 33-year career. I have never seen this before … Be a little lean on Christmas and buy a house.”
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Mitch Mitchell is a consultant who writes and participates in many different fields, including real estate finance issues. 
Sounds like the kind of place I want to be right about now. Hopefully the rest of the bad markets can turn around soon.
I am thrilled to hear this about Central NY. Chapel Hill and Durham, NC have had a similar experience. Our average prices have held their own and have not declined. We also have a very low foreclosure rate. Overall, sales are down but in the past year they are down less than from 2007 to 2008. This combined with prices that are holding steady makes our market strong as well.
Chapel Hill Real Estate´s last blog ..Chapel Hill Makes Two Best Places Lists
After the doom and gloom in the past year its good to see that there is recovery on real estate in NY.