By Ivan Pereira
A report by the Prudential Douglas Elliman real estate company revealed that the median price for homes in Queens plummeted by 11.4 percent in the third quarter of this year in a continuing slump that began in the summer of 2007.
The survey, released last week and prepared by real estate appraisal company Miller Samuel Inc., found that the median sales price for homes in the borough was $400,000 in the third quarter of 2008. This was 11.4 percent lower than the median sales price of $451,250 in the third quarter of 2007, according to the report.
“The decline in median sales price has shown five consecutive declines since the summer of 2007,” the report said.
The average sales price for homes in the borough went down considerably as well, the survey stated. In the third quarter of 2007, the average sales price was $478,752, while in the third quarter of 2008 it was down 2.8 percent to $436, 575.
The survey indicated that central Queens was the area that saw the sharpest drop in median and average sales price.
In the third quarter of 2007, the median sales price in that area was $413,712, while in the third quarter of this year it was $350,000, a 15.4 percent drop, according to the report. Last year, during the same period, the average sales price was $465,936, while in 2008 it was $416,135, a 10.7 percent drop.
The Rockaways saw the lowest decline in median sales prices and an increase in average sales price, the report said.
The median sales price was $461,250 in the third quarter of 2007; it dropped 0.8 percent to $465,132 in the same period this year, according to the survey. The average sales price in the Rockaways was up 4.2 percent in the third quarter of 2008 with an average price of $477,322, compared to $458,219 in the same time in 2007.
The median home sales price in south Queens declined 11.5 percent from $448,275 in the third quarter of 2007 to $396,550 in the third quarter of 2008, the report said. The average home sales price in that area went from $465,897 to $406,214, an 11.1 percent decline.
In the eastern part of the borough, the median sales price declined from $480,000 last year to $431,163 in 2008, a 10.2 percent drop, according to the survey. The average sales price in eastern Queens declined 7.3 percent from $500,588 in the third quarter of 2007 to $464,214 in the same period this year.
Northwest Queens homeowners saw their median sales price decline a slight 3.3 percent from the third quarter of 2007 to the same period this year. In 2007, the median price was $646,634; this year it was $625,195, according to the survey. The average price was $626,702 in 2007 and declined 3.9 percent to $621,246 in the third quarter of 2008.
Reach reporter Ivan Pereira by e−mail at ipereira@timesledger.com or by phone at 718−229−0300, Ext. 146.
