Fourth Quarter statistics released by the Genesee Region Real Estate Information Services (GENRIS), the information subsidiary of the Greater Rochester Association of REALTORS® (GRAR) reflect the consistent trend of 2010, a stable and growing appreciation in home values within the local housing market in the 11-county region.

The median sale price for the Fourth Quarter of $119,500 reflected a 5 percent increase compared to last year at this time.  Transactions for the Fourth Quarter 2010 showed a 31 percent decrease over Fourth Quarter 2009, with 2,134 homes sold, which is most likely due to a more traditional Fourth Quarter this year matched against one spurred by the Federal Homebuyer Tax Credit last year.  The number of homes listed was down 11 percent over Fourth Quarter 2009.

“With the Tax Credit, we essentially experienced nine months worth of buyers that went through the market in a period of four months,” stated Carolyn Stiffler, president of the Greater Rochester Association of REALTORS® Board of Directors.

Regardless of this Fourth Quarter being compared to a Tax Credit driven one, the slowing sales trend is typical and expected for the seasonal housing market in Greater Rochester at this time of year.  Home sales tend to slow during the holiday season and continue to do so through the early part of the New Year.  Resurgence in sales is usually seen toward the beginning of the Second Quarter, which signals the start of the spring market.

“Those buyers who remain active during the winter months, however, will benefit from continuing favorable affordability conditions and still-low mortgage rates,” said Stiffler.

GRAR Officials also noted that 2010 overall was relatively stable in our market despite the negative effects of the national recession in other markets across the country.  Overall, sales for 2010 decreased 5 percent and homes listed for sale was down 4 percent in comparison to 2009.  Median sale price rose 3 percent in 2010 over the previous year.

“The Tax Credit statistics in the midst of a recession make it difficult to accurately gauge activity as a comparison,” remarked Ryan Tucholski, chief executive officer of the Greater Rochester Association of REALTORS®.  “With a conservative economy like Rochester’s typically there is a delay that occurs entering into a recession and with that there is equally a delay in recovery.  However, the increase in median sales price not only in the slow Fourth Quarter but for the whole year perhaps provides a glimmer of uncharacteristic early recovery and points to the resiliency of the Rochester market.”

Other good news included the 5 contiguous counties to Monroe County all realized overall increases in median sale prices in the Fourth Quarter 2010 as compared to the same time in 2009 despite some of the major towns and/or cities in those counties seeing decreases in median values.  There were several towns within Monroe County that enjoyed sales gains overall in 2010 as compared to 2009.  They include:  Clarkson, Hamlin, Ogden (Spencerport Village), Parma (Hilton Village), Riga (Churchville Village), Penfield, Pittsford (Pittsford Village) and Rush.   Out of the total of 20 towns and villages listed in Monroe County, 17 saw an increase in the median sales price for the year.

GRAR will continue to support the local residential real estate industry through its TIME2BUY® marketing campaign, which focuses on the benefits of owning a home and using the services of a REALTOR® when buying and selling a home.

This entry was posted on Friday, January 28th, 2011 at 10:05 pm and is filed under Real Estate. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.