Central NY real estate’s year: Here are key charts that reveal 2024′s unusual market

Syracuse, N.Y. — The residential real estate market in Central New York has been favoring sellers in a big way in recent years and that was again the case in 2024.

Since the region’s real estate market roared back to life following the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020, Central New Yorkers have been seeing competition for properties unlike anything in recent memory. Waived inspections, bidding wars and multiple offers have become the norm, where they were previously exceptions.

Realtors have advised buyers to have patience and told them cash offers with no strings or contingencies will generally win out.

Sale prices have been climbing.

The sellers' market is reflected in 2024 data on Central New York residential real estate compiled by the Greater Syracuse Association of Realtors. The numbers cover activity in Cayuga, Madison, Oneida, Onondaga, Oswego and Seneca counties.

A few key stats tell the story.

Percent above list price

Before 2020, the typical home sale in Central New York closed for less than the list price, sometimes by 4% or more.

Now, sellers are typically getting more than their list prices — thanks to buyers bidding aggressively, often by more than 4%.

In every month but one since November 2023, for example, buyers have averaged a final sale price above list in Central New York. The 12-month average for the period that ended in October was 2.7% over list price.

Click here if you can’t see the chart with details below.

Days on market

Homes are also selling rapidly, forcing buyers to move quickly. Properties are sometimes sold in just days, Realtors have said.

The average home in Central New York spent just 16 days on the market in October.

Before the pandemic, properties in the region typically sat on the market for months.

The chart below has details on average days on market for properties across the region, click here if you can’t see it.

Inventory of homes for sale

Buyers in the area were squeezed in 2024 by a historically low number of homes for sale. People are staying in their existing homes for a variety of reasons.

Homes may be selling quickly and sellers are getting historically high prices. But anyone selling and then planning to stay in the region would face the same challenges in finding a new home as any other buyer: low inventory, high prices and stiff competition.

Interest rates have also likely prompted some people to stay put.

Mortgage rates have climbed in recent years thanks to the Federal Reserve’s efforts to cool inflation. Anyone who bought or refinanced before the increases would be faced with a much worse rate now if they obtained a new mortgage for a new house.

As of October, there were just over 1,600 residential properties for sale in Central New York. That’s up more than 37% from a year ago but still far below historic norms.

Before the pandemic, there were some months with more than 6,000 listings in the region.

You can see details on the number of homes for sale over the last two years in the chart below. If you can’t see the chart, click here to open it in a new window.

The inventory situation does appear to be improving somewhat. Since November 2023, listings in Central New York have been higher than the previous year in every month but two.

And in September, the region’s supply of inventory inched back above two months’ worth for the first time since 2020. Before the pandemic, the stock had never dropped that low in Realtors association records dating back to 2013.

Prices, though, remain elevated. The median sale price for a home in Central New York in October was $226,000, up 0.4% from the same month in 2023.

In September, the median reached $250,000, the high point since 2013, according to Realtors association records.

Realtors and other experts have said the local market’s current trends are likely to continue for some time, possibly years.

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