By Ivan Pereira
Home sales in Queens continue to decline as the prices for properties in various neighborhoods in the borough drop, a new report released last week showed.
The Prudential Douglas Elliman Real Estate report stated that the average sales price in Queens dropped 7.6 percent from $436,575 in the third quarter of 2008 to $403,429 during the same period this year and median sales price decreased 9.5 percent from $400,000 during the third quarter last year to $362,000 during the same period in 2009.
The decline in prices was responsible for a 13.9 percent decline in the number of sales from 3,240 sales in the third quarter of 2008 to 2,789 during the same period this year, according to Prudential Douglas Elliman.
“A portion of the decline from the prior year quarter was attributable to sellers pulling their listings from the market with the strategy of relisting when market conditions improve,” the report said.
Southern Queens, which has had a large number of foreclosures over the last couple of years, was the community to take the biggest hit in sales prices, the report said.
The average sales price for the area went from $419,491 in the third quarter of last year to $353,147 during the same period this year, a 15.8 percent decline, and median sales prices dropped 13.6 percent from $405,000 in the third quarter of 2008 to $350,000 during the same period this year, according to the report.
Average home sales prices in northwest Queens dropped 9.7 percent from $528,705 in the third quarter of 2008 to $477,520 during the same period this year, Prudential said. Median sales prices for the area also fell from $510,000 last year to $436,020 during the same period in 2009, a 14.5 percent decline.
Western Queens saw its average home sales price decline 8.6 percent from $419,681 in the third quarter of 2008 to $402,033 during the same period this year. Median sales prices went from $450,000 last year to $400,000, a 11.1 percent drop, according to Prudential.
In northeast Queens, average sales prices slipped from $464,074 in the third quarter of 2008 to $441,904 during the same period this year, a decline of 4.8 percent. Median sales prices decreased 2.8 percent from $430,000 last year to $418,000 during the third quarter of 2009, according to the report.
Central Queens had the smallest decline in sales prices as average sales prices edged down 2 percent from $376,813 in the third quarter of 2008 to $369,165 during the same period this year. The neighborhood’s median sales price went from $305,000 in the third quarter of 2008 to $300,000 during the same period this year, a 1.6 percent drop, Prudential said.
Rockaway was the only Queens neighborhood to record a growth in sales prices, according to the report.
The average sales price for the area rose 2.5 percent from $428,941 during the third quarter of 2008 to $439,682 during the same period this year and the median sales price rose 9.6 percent from $408,439 last year to $447,500 this year.
Reach reporter Ivan Pereira by e-mail at ipereira@cnglocal.com or by phone at 718-229-0300, Ext. 146.
