Queens Sales off to Strong Start in First Quarter

Douglas Elliman released its first quarter 2014 sales report for Queens, and the numbers look strong. In fact, numbers whiz Jonathan Miller notes that the Queens’ housing market is now dominated by rising prices after an extended period of stability, low inventory and rising sales.

The report found that the median sales price reached its highest first quarter total in five years, coming in at $370,000. That number is 5.7 percent higher than the number reported in the first quarter of 2013, $350,000. Average sales price reached its highest first quarter result since 2008, increasing 10.3 percent to $429,544. The number of sales impressively jumped 32.8 percent from 2,377 to 3,156. Inventory fell to its second lowest level in nine years, and Jonathan Miller believes it may be at or near bottom. (From the same year-ago period, it dropped 13.5 percent to 5,617 units.) Marketing time fell by a month as negotiability continued to tighten — this quarter, units spent an average of 103 days on the market as opposed to 121. And listing discount was down too, dropping from 5.8 percent to 5 percent.

The numbers also show that the price of a condo, co-op or home in Queens is rising. This quarter the average condo price came in at $460,321. The number was $398,334 last year. The number of condo sales jumped from 318 to 453. As for co-op units, the first quarter sales average was $212,276, up from $199,060. In one year the number of sales increased 51.9 percent from 736 to 1,118. Prices for one- to three-family homes came in at an average sales price of $574,001 as opposed to $493,878 in 2013. The number of home sales increased 20 percent. Finally, the median sales price in the luxury market increased an impressive 17.5 percent to $800,000.

The new development condo market share was 5.2 percent, up from 3.2 percent. The average price per square foot for a new development unit ($634) is the third highest number since 2010. But the price indicators are mixed: median sales price was down .6 percent to $491,790, with average sales price up 2.6 percent to $557,955.

A few other takeaways? Central Queens (including Forest Hills and Rego Park) has seen the largest six-year rise in market share. The Rockaways only show a market share of 2.4 percent, roughly half the average market share prior to Hurricane Sandy.

1Q – 2014 Queens Sales [Douglas Elliman]