A recent report found that houses in Queens are selling faster than ever before in the second quarter of 2019.
StreetEasy recently released their Queens Market Report for the second quarter of 2019. According to their findings, the StreetEasy price index for Queens saw a 1.5 percent increase, raising to $516,374. This increase is the slowest pace of growth in the borough since the fourth quarter of 2013.
Queens had more inventory in the second quarter compared to the first quarter with 4,895 homes for sale — the 14.5 percent increase set a quarter record. Queens also saw the largest annual jump in the number of homes entering contract at 15.9 percent. Compared to last year, 179 more homes entered contract, resulting in 1,302 pending sales, the highest number of pending sales on record.
“Lower mortgage rates, a strong economy and steady job growth have kept demand for homes in New York City high, helping give the sales market a much-needed boost after a year of weakness,” said Grant Long, StreetEasy Senior Economist. “The looming mansion tax also spurred a flurry of sales activity in the second quarter, as sellers and buyers raced to close ahead of the July 1 deadline. While this comes as encouraging news for sellers, it remains to be seen how well this market will be able to absorb the surplus of homes currently for sale across price points.”
The median number of days that homes spent on the market in Queens went up to 58 days, a four-day increase year-over-year. Homes in the northwest region of Queens, covering Astoria, Long Island City, Sunnyside and Ditmars-Steinway, spent a median of 48 days on the market, eight days less compared to last year.
The report found that 20.8 percent of homes on the market offered a price cut, raising 3.3 percent this quarter. However, the number of homes offering a price cut in the northwest Queens area dropped down to 22 percent.
Click here to read the full report.
