Rochester area home sales remain hot (9618)

Sales of existing single family homes remained hot in August. According to the Greater Rochester Association of Realtors sales of existing single family homes jumped 4.6 percent over July.

Specifically a total of 1,378 homes were sold in August compared to 1,318 in July. A total of 752 purchase offers were accepted last month, down 2.2 percent from July when 769 offers were accepted. The median sale price in August was $113,000 up 5.1 percent from July when the average price was $107,500. The median sale price one year ago was $100,000

Fewer listed properties and increasing sales combined to increase sale prices, all bringing the year-to-date dollar volume to $917,846,035. Median sale price year-to-date reached $95,500.

“It is evident that in this race both buyers and sellers are winners,” said John R. Piper, CEO of The Realtors. “Buyers are obtaining mortgage interest rates comparable to those their grandparents received, and sellers are finding that the real estate market is becoming the best return on their investment.”

A total of 14,107 homes have been listed for sale so far in 2002, down 9 percent from one year ago when 15,509 homes were listed for sale. In addition, 7,802 homes have been sold thus far in 2002 up 2.1 percent compared to one year ago.

A number of areas posted a gain in closings. They are:

u Monroe County, up 1 percent, from 5,265 in 2001 to 5,318 in 2002;

u City of Rochester, up 10.2 percent from 1,101 in 2001 to 1,213 in 2002;

u Wayne County, up 18.4 percent from 527 in 2001 to 598 in 2002;

u Livingston County, up 25.4 percent from 307 in 2001 to 385 in 2002; and

u Genesee County, up 7.7 percent, from 220 in 2001 to 237 in 2002.

Mortgages, Deeds

The number of mortgages and deeds filed with the Monroe County Clerk’s office dropped last month compared to a year ago.

A total of 3,124 mortgages were filed with the clerk’s office last month, compared to 3,606 filed one year ago and 3,243 filed in July. Yesterday, the 30-year fixed mortgage rate was 6.2 percent while the 15-year rate was 5.63 percent.

In addition, 1,964 deeds were filed with the clerk’s office in August, down from one year ago when 2,272 were filed. Filings are also down from July when 2,010 were filed.

Building Permits

According to GRAR, 160 single family building permits were filed in July, down slightly from one year ago when 183 permits were filed. On a year-to-date basis 1,058 single family building permits have been filed in the Genesee region.