Tag Archives: Home sales

Once upon a time we did these reports back on Staten Island: Real Estate, News, Advice and information. We changed the blog format a little bit and now our real estate reports will appear here on Trending SINY, where once a month you will find a rundown on the latest home sales statistics affecting our local real estate market. I hope you find the new format little bit easier to navigate, not to mention a little bit easier on the eyes. So let’s delve into what happened as of last month and highlight some of the key statistics to see where our local market may be heading.

With 264 home sales in August, it marks the highest sales total year-to-date. It also marks the 41% increase in total home sales from July.

The Staten Island real estate market in the first half of this year was cold, just like the winter weather we had in January and February.  From February to May of this year, Staten Island didn’t break the 200 sales mark, and represented one of the lowest stretches of volume home sales since the financial crisis back in late 2008 and 2009. The year-to-date numbers on total home sales were down from this year to last year 19%. On the flip side, August sales numbers buoyed our real estate market significantly and represented the highest sales total since December 2009, with the exception of the tax credit induced home sale total back in June of last year when 425 homes sold. While it might seem an anomaly of sorts, it reflected the likelihood that our cold winter season had placed buyers sidelined for a period of time. For a period of almost a month and a half over 4 feet of snow buried Staten Island.  The foul weather considerably limited potential home buyers from traversing treacherous streets–not to mention the huge snowfall left a huge blanket over many homes’ exterior aesthetics, leaving buyers to guess what an in-ground pool or landscaping looked like once the snow melted. 

 You have to draw the distinction that weather played a huge factor because little else in the economic fundamentals would indicate much else in seeing the meteoric rise of home sales in the month of August.  Interest rates and unemployment over that same period really saw little if any change. However, it shows that the market still can produce pent-up demand.

While the number of home sales for the year is down year-to-date, very little in the real estate statistics has changed much. The median home sales price year-to-date (YTD) is exactly $380,000 which is the same as last year at the same time. Also, the home’s days on the market, standing in at 142 days is exactly the same as it was last year at this time. Furthermore, the percentage of list-to-sell prices from last year are nearly the same as well, in at about 93 and three-quarter percent of the home’s asking price being covered by the buyer.

However, one number that remains a little bit disconcerting is month’s inventory. Basically, month’s inventory is identified as how many months it would take all available properties on the market to sell, if no other homes were into the marketplace on one particular date. That stands in that little over 15 months YTD, where last year the YTD average was 11 3/4 months. When you look at last month’s actual inventory of homes on the market, it stood at 3305; you’d have to go back to November 2008 to see the same amount of homes available at any one given time. That, quite frankly, is reflective of how the slow real estate market on Staten Island is in the first half of the year. However, the month’s inventory number dropped to 12 1/2 months this past month.

So here are some key stats for the month of August:

The available homes on the market on Staten Island (which include one family homes, two-family homes, condos and co-ops) currently amounts to 3305 Staten Island homes for sale. 

The median sold price for August came in at $391,000, which was above the average year-to-date $380,000.

The average days it took on the market for a home to sell in August fell to 128 days from 147 days back in July.  It is also below the year-to-date average 142 days.

The percentage of list-to-sell of homes that sold in August climbed a bit to 94.16% from July, and stands in at 93.84%. This was also above the year-to-date average of 93.77%.

So there you have it–the quick rundown on some of the market numbers that you should be aware of when considering moving.  Check back at the beginning of each month and we will feature a report on the prior month home sales in Staten Island real estate market statistics and give you key insights into what these numbers may mean for you.  For more information on how much your home is worth you can always -contact us at RealEstateSINY.com (718) 668-0423.