The latest numbers out on sales of existing homes in the Rochester area present a mixed picture.
According to the Greater Rochester Association of Realtors, home sales were down 14.6% in June compared to a year ago.
But the number of new listings of houses was up nearly four percent. The association says that's an encouraging sign, since this region like many others around the country, have experienced low inventories of existing homes for some time now.
And the median sales price of a home in the area rose 7.2%, to $150,000.
Linda Wilson is president of the Greater Rochester Association of Realtors. She says this has definitely been a seller’s market, with multiple offers coming in for a number of houses.
“There’s still a lot of buyer competition out there, but they’re driving everything for a quick sale, so they’re usually getting either asking price or above and at least 98 percent toward the listing price.”
In terms of new home construction, Rick Herman of the Rochester Home Builders Association says the number of permits issued for new houses were down somewhat, partly to a shortage of available workers in the home construction industry.
“Part of it is, is unfortunately, a lot of students are not getting into the trades, and they’re doing other things, and we are experiencing a fairly significant labor shortage which slows things down."
Herman also says some people are staying in their homes longer or remodeling instead of building a new home.
But Herman says that Rochester still leads Upstate New York in terms of new residential building permits.
