Massive House Price Increase at Surprising All-Time-High in New York State
The prices on houses are insane here in New York State. The record has been broken for the highest average sale price for a February of all time in New York State and there is no sign that it is slowing down.
February's average sale price this year was nearly $272,000 for a house in the Western New York area. That is a crazy number. That is up 12% since the previous year.
The highest average sale price in Western New York of all time was August 2024 at a record sale price of just over $320,000.
But, it is so hard to win a bidding war in New York State when trying to buy a home.
Some people are buying in cash and they are buying them before you even get a chance to set up an appointment with a realtor. The interest rates are so high still--just this week the interest rates to buy a home on a 30-year mortgage was about 6.70%. If you bought a home around 2018-2021 you are probably looking in great shape with your interest rate that is somewhere around a 3% or even less.
Because the interest rate is so high, people are buying in cash, which is a slam dunk of sellers. The average person can't offer cash so the houses sell so fast. It is even worse when the private equity companies try and buy a house because they will buy in CASH and for a TON OVER ASKING.
That might be going away though, if a new law passes from Governor Hochul.
The new law would ban private equity firms from buying homes and rental properties for the first 75 days it is on the market.
What does this mean?
- If you are a private equity firm you cannot offer a cash offer until the house is on the market for 75 days.
- If you are a regular buyer, you can put in an offer right away.