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Tuesday, August 24, 2010, 9:58am EDT  |  Modified: Tuesday, August 24, 2010, 11:30am
Local home sales plunge 38%
The Business Review (Albany)

Sales of single-family homes in the Albany, New York, region fell 38 percent in July compared to a year ago, a sharper than expected decline after the federal government’s homebuyer tax incentive ended.

There were 568 closed sales of new and existing homes in July, compared to 921 in July 2009, according to preliminary figures released this morning by the Greater Capital Association of Realtors.

On a month-to-month basis, the decline was even worse. Total closed sales fell 49 percent in July compared to June.

A year ago, it was a different story: the number of closed sales rose 9.6 percent from June to July.

GCAR represents real estate agents and brokers in 11 local counties but most of the sales are in Albany, Rensselaer, Saratoga and Schenectady counties.

GCAR President Laurene Curtin said the association anticipated a slowdown after the federal homebuyer tax credit program ended in April, but not to this degree.

The thinking is that buyers who would have otherwise bought homes in May, June or July pushed up their purchase to qualify for the credit of up to $8,000.

Still, GCAR officials were puzzled by the severity of the decline, especially considering interest rates on mortgages have fallen to the lowest level in 50 years.

A survey of Capital Region lenders found the average rate for a 30-year fixed conforming loan was 4.5 percent, and the average for a 15-year fixed conforming loan with no points was 4 percent, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association of Northeastern New York.

“It is a hard market for us to read,” GCAR Chief Executive Officer James Ader said, “or at least difficult for us to predict going forward.”

Based on the data, a quick turnaround doesn’t look promising.

The number of purchase contracts signed in July fell 40 percent compared to a year ago. Since it takes six to eight weeks for a pending contract to proceed to a closing, the sales results in the early fall will likely be poor also.....................>>>>.................>>>>..................http://albany.bizjournals.com/albany/stories/2010/08/23/daily9.html?surround=lfn