NYSAR: 2023 Ended with Lowest Recorded Housing Inventory In New York State History

ALBANY—As 2023 ended, inventory of homes across the Empire State fell to the lowest recorded mark in history, according to the housing report released recently by the New York State Association of Realtors.

Inventory of homes for sale across New York State dropped to an all-time record low of 24,469 units in December 2023. This represents a 17.8% decline in the 29,768 homes available in December 2022.

Prices continued to rise to close out 2023, with the median sales price of homes in New York State rising 10.1% to $380,000 last month, up from $345,000 in December 2022. This marks the fifth consecutive month of rising median sales prices, NYSAR officials reported.

Interest rates have started to come down in month-over-month comparisons. According to Freddie Mac, the average on a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage dropped from 7.44% in November 2023 to 6.82% in December. For comparison, a year ago at this time, the interest rate stood at 6.36%.

New listings and pending sales both rose slightly in December. New listings of homes were up 0.4% in year-over-year comparisons from 5,769 units in December 2022 to 5,791 homes last month.

Pending sales inched up 0.7% from 6,483 units in 2022 to 6,528 homes in December 2023. Closed sales, however, did fall, dropping 12.6% from 9,855 sales in December 2022 to only 8,611 homes to close out 2023.