SYRACUSE, N.Y. (NCC News) – According to Zillow’s monthly report, home values in Onondaga County are up 12.33% since June of last year. The report placed the average price of a home in the county at $249,003.
Syracuse area realtor and owner of HUNT Real Estate, Chip Hodgkins, attributes a lack of available units to the rise in values.
“Supply is the only thing that really governs housing prices,” Hodgkins said. “Supply has gone down dramatically in Central New York. Instead of having one buyer for every home, we have six buyers.”
According to Hodgkins, there are not more people in the market for a home. The problem, instead, lies in the number of houses being built.
Hodgkins estimated that 300 to 500 new homes are built each year in Central New York. He said in order to keep up with the demand of buyers that number of needs to increase to nearly 2,500.
With Micron Technology planning to building new plants across Onondaga County, manufacturing jobs are likely to attract new residents. Those people, Hodgkins said, will put an initial stress on the leasing market.
“We need more rentals so that new people coming into the area can find a place that they want to live in and people that can’t afford new housing have a place to rent,” Hodgkins said.
Zillow releases statistics on home values each month. The average value of a home in Syracuse during the month of June was $194,853, up nearly 14% from last year.
