Bad, and worse to come
All quiet on the Capital Region home front -- too quiet
By CHRIS CHURCHILL Business writer
Published 04:25 p.m., Saturday, October 22, 2011



The Capital Region real estate market had a tough year in 2010. But 2011 is on pace to be even worse.

Sales are down again across the region this year, even when compared with 2010's anemic pace. Median purchase prices also are down or flat in many areas.

Few towns or cities have managed to buck that trend. But if you had to pick one, Halfmoon would be a good place to start. Long among the region's fastest-growing towns, the median sale price in the southern Saratoga County community has risen by 9.3 percent this year -- the highest spike in the area -- while the pace of sales is even.

Glenville, meanwhile, has the largest percentage increase of overall sales, a 9.2 percent rise, according to data from the Greater Capital Association of Realtors, which provides community-specific numbers for the region's 17 most active real estate markets.

Only 11 more homes have been sold so far this year in Glenville than in the same period last year. But in 2011's slow market, that's enough to put it on top.

Donna Bird, co-owner of Bird Realty in Glenville and a 28-year resident of the town, could find no particular reason why this would be an especially active year for the real estate market there. But she noted the continued popularity of some of the school districts in Glenville and tax rates that are relatively low by Schenectady County standards.

"It's still a quaint town," she said, "and not quite as big as, say, Clifton Park."

With a population of nearly 37,000 residents, Clifton Park leads the way for the largest number of homes sold through September, though its total of 395 is down 12 percent from the same time in 2010. Albany had the second-highest total at 327, nearly unchanged from last year.

Few other communities, though, could call their real estate markets robust. And some communities have had especially stark decreases through the first nine months of the year.

In Rotterdam, for example, the number of closed home sales fell by 31.4 percent, the largest decline among the larger communities. The median, or mid-point, sale price in the town has fallen by 6.6 percent to $149,500.

Closed sales in Cohoes, meanwhile, dropped by 30.2 percent, with a median decline of 5.3 percent to $160,000.

Those declines are considerably larger than for the region as a whole, which has experienced a 10 percent drop this year in closed sales and a median that's been essentially unchanged at $185,900.

So why are people hesitant to buy?

Well, the real estate downturn and continuing slides in value have made some potential buyers more suspicious of real estate as an investment. And, of course, the ongoing struggles of the world and domestic economies haven't helped to restore confidence.

"We're talking about a major investment," said Paul Semanek, president of the area Realtors association. "If people are not sure about their jobs, if people are not sure about the economy, they're going to be wary."

Still, some towns are more cushioned than others from economic uncertainty -- proving again that the Capital Region consists of many smaller real estate markets with unique conditions.

Take Saratoga Springs, which has been the most expensive place to buy a home this year. The median sale price in the city is $331,000, up nearly seven percent.

Halfmoon, which has no town tax, is second-most expensive among the most active markets, with a median of $324,413.

Looking for a bargain?

Then head to Schenectady, where relatively high property taxes, among other factors, contribute to the lowest real estate prices among the region's larger cities and towns.

Schenectady's median price this year has been $100,000, down 13 percent from the first nine months of 2010.

Read more: http://www.timesunion.com/business/article/Bad-and-worse-to-come-2231457.php#ixzz1bcL78anP

Things are very bad in renaissance County? About time someone wrote the truth. No one can pay the taxes from these DEM idiots. In Schenectady NONE of the 7 DEM City Council morons can find a single cut in McCarthy's bloated unbalanced budget. Rotterdam is racing to the bottom with a huge drop in property sales thanks to working together solutions. If these DEM idiots keep the town and City you won't be able to give away property. Nobody cares about a new governmental gin mill that we paid for Downtown.