Buffalo, N.Y., Housing Market Continues Hot Pace
RISMEDIA, Oct. 20, 2005 — (KRT) — Home sales in Buffalo Niagara in September increased 5 percent from a year ago, as the housing market showed strength beyond the peak summer sales season.
The Buffalo Niagara Association of Realtors (BNAR) reported 866 homes were sold last month, the best for any September in BNAR data going back to 1994.
Another key indicator, median sale price, increased 10 percent from a year ago, to $99,000. That means half the homes sold for more than that amount, and half sold for less.
Buffalo area homes remain a relative bargain -- the national median price is $220,000, according to the National Association of Realtors.
The average sale price in Buffalo Niagara last month was $127,386, up 16 percent from a year ago, according to BNAR data. Forty-eight homes sold for $300,000 or more in September; a year ago, only 22 reached that threshold.
Pete Peterson, president of the BNAR, said he believes home buyers are moving quickly to make deals before expected increases in interest rates, a buying trend he also saw unfolding in August.
The 866 homes sold in September was the third-lowest monthly total in 2005. But sales totals routinely drop after August, and regain strength in the following spring.
The number of homes on the market continued to rise. A total of 5,372 homes were listed for sale, up 8 percent from a year ago. And though the total was down only slightly from August, it broke a string of eight straight monthly increases in the number of homes on the market.
The higher inventory seems to have contributed to fewer multiple offers on a property, though multiple offers are still happening on hot properties, Peterson said. And with more properties available, the number of them selling in 30 days or less has cooled off. “There’s always a supply and demand factor to that,” he said.
Through September, the BNAR reported the region’s home sales total was 3 percent ahead of last year’s nine-month total, which ended up a full-year record.
That reflects a national trend. The National Association of Realtors (NAR) has revised its projections upward, to a 4.2 percent full-year increase in existing-home sales in 2005.
At the start of 2005, the NAR had forecast existing-home sales would fall 2.5 percent this year, but would still generate the second-highest total on record.
I mean really, where else in the world can you look straight through this faintly coloured liquid (checking out the diners at the opposite table at the same time) as the waitress refills your cup???!!!! 
