The Buffalo Niagara housing market remain strong during October, but there are signs that it's cooled a bit since its sizzling days this summer.
Home prices kept rising — increasing by more than 4% over the past year — topping the $150,000 level for the fifth straight month.
But the market remains tight, with potential buyers still outnumbering the homes for sale — an imbalance that is pushing up prices. Even in this sellers' market, few homes are coming up for sale.
Homes still are selling quickly, with the average home staying on the market for just 32 days before it sells.
"Prices are still rising in most areas, and the number of homes for sale is still low, but there is a general shrinking of the year-over-year percentage change gaps in sales, inventory and prices," the Buffalo Niagara Association of Realtors said in its report.
Home prices keep rising, but more slowly. Local home prices topped $150,000 for the fifth straight month, with the median price of homes sold in October rising by a little more than 4% to $151,000. While that was a record high for October, it was the lowest monthly median price since May and well below the record high of $165,000 set in July.
Through September, median sale prices in 2018 are up nearly 7%.
Home sales are strong, but slowing as buyers still have a relatively limited supply of homes to choose from, making it harder for them to find a house. October sales were down 8%, but that drop is likely to be revised downward next month as more data becomes available. The 25% drop in September sales that the real estate group reported last month was revised sharply upward to a decline of 11%.
Sales through October are down 4%, and pending sales last month were up by nearly 4%.
Homes are still in short supply. In fact, it's been more than 20 years since there was an October with fewer homes up for sale.
The shortage of homes for sale — 3,437 were listed in October, down 3% from a year ago — has buyers scrambling. And while new listings remain subdued, they rose by almost 3% during October — just the second increase in the last 12 months.
Homes are still selling fast in a seller's market. Homes in October sold after being on the market for an average of 32 days — three days faster than a year ago but three weeks quicker than 2016.
Sellers got 98.5% of their most-recent asking price, down from the market's peak days this summer, when the sale price roughly matched the latest listing price in both June and July. And there are only enough homes for sale to accommodate 3.3 months of sales at the current pace.
