Albany, NY - The 2011 second quarter New York State Real Estate Sentiment Scores have been released by the Siena Research Institute (SRI).
“Over the second quarter New Yorkers were fed a steady diet of bitter economic reports including little encouraging real estate news. Consequently, every one of the real estate sentiment scores, current and future, dipped,” according to Dr. Don Levy, SRI’s Director. “Worst hit was the mood in the downstate suburbs where the assessment of current market conditions fell dramatically and the prospects for sellers dropped to a statewide low. NYC’s real estate mood declined, but city residents still expect a brighter future, and Upstaters although currently negative about the market also anticipate improvement.”
The overall current Real Estate Sentiment score among New Yorkers in the 2nd quarter of 2011 is -30.9 well below the point where equal percentages of citizens feel optimistic and pessimistic about the housing market and it is down 4.3 points from last quarter. Looking forward, the overall future Real Estate Sentiment score is 9.8 (down from 15.9 last quarter) indicating that New Yorkers expect the overall real estate market and the value of property to increase over the next year but a rate less than they did last quarter. Consumers see now as a poor time to sell with a score significantly below breakeven at -41.3 but as a very good time to buy with a high positive score of 30.7.
“The enactment of the property tax cap law by Gov. Andrew Cuomo and the state Legislature was a key step forward in the recovery of both the housing market and our economy,” said Duncan R. MacKenzie, NYSAR CEO. “Our nation-leading closing costs, driven by our ever escalating property taxes, created significant barriers for would-be homebuyers. As New York reigns in property tax growth and spending, we expect New Yorkers will have a renewed interest in the housing market.”
“Despite declining real estate sentiment scores and continuing low consumer confidence numbers, a bright spot is the passage of the new property tax cap. Real Estate watchers as well as residents, especially those in the downstate suburbs have long lobbied for this legislation. We will watch closely to see if the cap which many New Yorkers say is moving the state on the right track, will pick up the overall real estate mood and make sellers feel more optimistic about their prospects,” Dr. Levy said.
“Looking at the state in three geographies, NYC residents continue to have the most optimistic appraisal of the overall market followed Upstate with NYC’s suburbs finishing last. But within Upstate, consumers in Rochester and Utica saw meaningful improvement while Albany, Syracuse and Mid-Hudson stayed about even and Binghamton and Buffalo declined,” notes Dr. Levy.
Click here to view the SRI press release.