Upstate New York Stays Tight as National Pending Sales Slip

A tighter pocket in the Northeast

HousingWire reported on Oct. 6 that upstate New York is standing apart from a broader national housing slowdown. Its data places Rochester, Syracuse, Buffalo–Niagara Falls and Binghamton among the tightest markets in the Northeast, while national pending sales were down roughly 10% from a year earlier.

Rochester was the clearest example in the report: it had 1.1 months of housing supply, 1,024 active listings and a median list price of $289,000. Homes had a median 21 days to contract, and 21% of listings had price cuts, compared with 43% nationally, according to HousingWire.

Syracuse shows both competition and repricing

Syracuse had 928 active listings, 1.6 months of supply and a $325,000 median list price. HousingWire put its median time to sale at 42 days; 31.9% of listings had price cuts.

Eric O’Mara, broker-owner of Syracuse-based Integrated Real Estate, told HousingWire that the market remains healthy but is no longer operating on pandemic-era assumptions. In his account, homes that buyers view as well priced and attractive can draw immediate demand, while listings perceived as overpriced can remain on the market.

O’Mara attributed part of the area’s demand support to limited new-home construction. He also pointed to expected population growth connected to Micron’s planned semiconductor manufacturing development in Clay, about 20 minutes from downtown Syracuse.

Local reports cited by HousingWire project 50,000 total jobs in New York associated with the development, including 9,000 direct high-tech jobs with Micron. O’Mara characterized the project as a potential long-term influence, while noting that job estimates reported elsewhere have differed.

A regional comparison

HousingWire’s figures also showed constrained conditions in other Northeast markets. Hartford had 1.4 months of supply and a median 35 days to sale, while Boston had 1.8 months of supply, 4,937 active listings and a median $895,000 list price.

The New York–Northern New Jersey–Long Island metro had 20,191 active listings and 2.5 months of supply, with a $799,000 median list price and a 56-day median time to sale. HousingWire described those conditions as tighter than in many Sun Belt markets.

The figures point to a more selective environment in upstate markets: scarce supply continues to support competition, but the level of price-cut activity in Syracuse also indicates that sellers’ initial pricing remains consequential.