Rochester's housing market continues to see strong demand, but meeting that demand remains a major challenge.
That was one of the main takeaways from an Economic Forecast Forum hosted by the Greater Rochester Association of Realtors on Wednesday. This attracted hundreds of real estate agents and people from related fields to Henrietta's forum.
Jim Yoeckel, the association's CEO, said finding homes is difficult even in the $100,000 to $275,000 price range.
“I think what we heard from some of the builders on the panel is that it's impossible to build the kind of regular standard homes that we've been doing at that price point. ,” Yoeckel said. “So we're going to have to find ways to be creative to meet the needs of the world, because we can't do what we've always done.”
Jim Barbato, president of local developer Pride Mark Homes, said the local housing market is strong in terms of demand for new homes.
“That demand continues, so as long as there's demand, we're going to find a way to meet that demand,” Barbato said. “However, in today's environment the challenge of inflation is significant and fortunately inflation is slowing, so while prices are currently high, they are at least predictable.”
Barbato said rising material costs, as well as a lack of skilled labor, are hampering the construction of new homes.
Barbato added that another factor that could encourage the construction of slightly smaller, more affordable housing is working with local governments to achieve zoning changes in some communities. Ta.
Matt Hurlbut, president and CEO of Greater Rochester Enterprises, said a lack of adequate housing elsewhere is also an obstacle to attracting new businesses to the area. It is said that there is a possibility.
“We can now get jobs in the region,” Hurlbut said, “and we can get more people working in the businesses we're talking about, from rental to ownership, of all sizes. We need housing,” he said.
Last year, sales of existing homes in the local housing market in 11 counties fell by 16.5% in 2023 compared to 2022, according to new data released by the Realtors Association.
Mike O'Connor, president of the Greater Rochester Association of Realtors, said a lack of inventory continues to be a drag on local home sales. He expects the situation to improve slightly in the second half of this year, but he doesn't expect much more improvement until sometime in 2025.
However, the median sales price continues to rise, increasing by 10% to $220,000 in 2023.
