Key Highlights
- Upstate New York, Connecticut and Maine continue to be hot spots
- Redfin reports 3 of 10 metros with largest inflows located in Northeast – Buffalo NY, Burlington VT and Syracuse NY
The pandemic-charged outflow from big-city apartment renters continues and the northeastern states of Upstate New York, Connecticut and Maine are primary beneficiaries. Redfin reports that three of the top 10 metros with the largest inflows are Buffalo NY (ranked 3rd), Burlington VT (ranked 4th) and Syracuse NY (ranked 10th).
How about this for a stat? Buffalo saw an inflow of buyers at the level of +107% during Q3 2020 with more than one third of property searches coming from non-locals.
Danielle Buchbinder, a realtor with Keller Williams, said, “(There are) a lot more buyers than there are sellers right now, causing an increase in purchase prices…Inventory is too low…and people are having to bid over asking in order to secure properties and be creative in other ways, too.”
Demand is also outweighing supply in the market of Kingston NY. Scott Miller, a broker with Catskill Mountain Realty said that right-priced houses are sold within a week. “Kingston has become (like a) Brooklyn East.” Many former Brooklyn-ites are not only buying homes at different price points, they’re also building businesses. Miller said, “I haven’t seen anything like this since 9/11.”
Stamford CCT saw a flurry of both short-term and yearly rentals at the beginning of the pandemic. By the time late spring, May and June rolled around, those rentals converted to purchases. With inventory being down some -64%, Tammy Felenstein, a realtor and executive director of sales at Halstead in Stamford said, “…we’re still seeing a very high level of activity, compared to what we would normally see at this time of the year.”
Not only are buyers coming from metro New York and Massachusetts, buyers are coming from California, according to Doug Schauf, a realtor with RE/MAX in Cape Elizabeth Maine. With inventory being at a premium, again, some right-priced houses turn around within two days. Schauf said, “People that are moving up here are able to work from home. So they want a home office of some sort, and plenty of space to have that.”
None of the brokers/agents mentioned in this piece believes this buying frenzy will subside any time soon. In fact, most, if not all, believe home sales will increase through 2021.
Thanks to HousingWire.
Also read: The Hottest Housing Markets in August Were…, Texas is Winner of In & Out Migration Patterns, Silver Linings in This Recession
