The New York real estate market posted a strong month in October, but it could see a drop off in November as a result of Hurricane Sandy.
According to the New York State Association of Realtors, 7,839 home sales were closed in October, a 4.3 percent year-over-year bump. Through the first 10 months of the year, a total of 77,383 sales were closed, 6.6 percent higher than the same period last year. Additionally, pending sales were up 18.1 percent compared to October 2011.
The median sales price hit $209,000, up 2 percent from $205,000 last year at this time. This was the fifth consecutive month of annual bumps.
"Through October, the New York State housing market made solid progress and our outlook was for increased sales and median sales price growth trends to continue," said Duncan MacKenzie, NYSAR CEO. "However, following Superstorm Sandy, the massive housing markets in the federally declared disaster areas were essentially put on hold."
Despite improvements in October, Sandy added to the foreclosure problem in New York. According to RealtyTrac, October foreclosure activity increased 123 percent.
