Capital District NY Real Estate Trends-Quarter-1, 2019

Much like 2018, the real estate market in 2019 for the Capital District is predicted  to be a hot one.  Median home values are up across most of the region and the trend is expected to continue for the upcoming year.  Let us take a look at where we are at right now and where the experts predict we are headed.

2018 was a sellers market and 2019 will be much of the same. Although the pendulum swing is thought by many to be starting to shift the other way, it will be slow moving if not all of in 2019 which means that it will still be a sellers market.  With a snowy winter, and the cold that just seems to be hanging on this spring, the start of the year has been slower than we have seen in the past couple.  But spring has arrived and with it the traditionally the most active home selling season! 
 
Even with a strong market right now there is a lack of inventory of houses for sale out there for would-be home owners to choose from. Because of the lack of inventory, we have seen the average days on market drop to right around 3 months or so as well as the number of closed sales.  The range of impacted houses were primarily priced between $100,000 and $200,000.
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Interest rates have increased a bit but has not seemed to affect the market too much.  This is because rates are still very low and the Federal Reserve has announced that they probably won't change them for the duration of 2019.  With that in mind and the fact that new home construction is down,  if you are looking to down-size or relocate for any reason... now is a good time to sell!
Below is a chart for median house prices and change in values for the last year as well as the expected change for the next year:    

As you can see from the chart the counties with the highest median home values are not surprisingly in Saratoga County with $264,200 (which is probably led by Clifton Park and Saratoga Springs), followed by Columbia county with $232,400 and Warren County with $200,900.  Warren County is the only county in the red for 2019 with a negative median change of a modest negative of 1.6%. Homes here might be a good value for people interested in moving into the Queensbury, Glens Falls or Lake George area.  All of the counties are expected to have a increase in home values over the next year but as you can see not as high as 2018 which could be an indicator of the market starting to swing from the sellers market that we are in now, to a buyers market.  But it is still a positive because it is still a strong market for people wanting to sell there homes in 2019.  

If you are a real estate investor with a buy and hold strategy looking for properties to increase in value; Fulton, Montgomery, Schenectady, Schoharie and Washington Counties are all forecasted for over a 4% growth in median home values.  You might be looking for homes with good rental history in towns such as; Greenwich, Schenectady, Rotterdam, Cobleskill, Gloversville, Johnstown, and Amsterdam.  If you are a fix and flip type of investor, these numbers are less important to you and you might be looking at areas with the higher median sales price such as Columbia and Saratoga Counties.
  
Whatever your real estate goal is in 2019,  I hope that this article and statistics add some value to your understanding of the current market.  Whether you are buying or selling, looking to invest long term or fix and flip,  market trends are a good piece of the puzzle to understand.  If you have any questions or need assistance we are always looking to help people out.  Comment below or visit our home page at: www.chrisandginabuyhouse.com to learn more about us and how we could be of assistance in your purchase or sale of your home, or if you even just have some questions to ask we love to talk shop so don't hesitate to reach out!

Thanks,
Chris and Gina