Home sales in Queens made a slight comeback in the third quarter of 2020, bouncing back from a rough spring marred by COVID-19, according to a new report.
Sales in the third quarter of this year increased by over 26 percent across Queens, when compared to the second quarter, according to the report from real estate firm Douglas Elliman.
But while quarter-to-quarter home sales are up, year-to-year sales are still down, the report said. Normally the busiest season of the year in the real estate market, the sales market in Queens during the third quarter of 2020 saw the second highest year over year drop in the number of sales in more than nine years. In the third quarter, year-over-year sales were down over 40 percent.
According to the report’s authors, a large number of the contracts signed during the pandemic were signed during and shortly after New York City was shutdown, causing a drop in the number of contracts signed during the third quarter.
With so few homes being sold, the number of homes on the market hit record highs.
In the third quarter of this year, the listing inventory in Queens hit its highest level in more than seven years, with 6,232 homes on the market. The the second quarter of 2020, there were 4,891 homes on the market.
Regionally, no part of the borough saw more home sales than south Queens. In the third quarter, there were 620 sales, accounting for a 54 percent increase when compared to the previous quarter. However, like the rest of the borough, year-over-year sales were down in the region – 980 homes were sold in the third quarter of 2019, according to the report.
Despite the drop in sales and the large number of homes on the market, the median sales price in the borough changed very little.
While the third quarter did see the first decline in the median sales price in the borough in 18 months, the drop was “nominal” according to the report’s authors.
In the third quarter of 2020, the median sales price in Queens was $650,678. In the third quarter of 2019, it was $651,216, a drop of 0.1 percent.
