Slump! Queens Home Sales, Prices Drop

The Queens third-quarter housing numbers are in, and the borough has joined Brooklyn in a slide. Prices and sales dropped annually.

The $400,000 median home sales price was 11.4 percent less than it was a year ago, and was also down from the second quarter of 2008, according to the report by Miller Samuel and Prudential Douglas Elliman. The report covered closed deals in the three months before Sept. 30, so it doesn't necessarily reflect the financial crisis that started in mid-September.

No matter: Queens has suffered more than your average borough in the housing slowdown. For one, Queens has led the five boroughs in first-time foreclosure amounts for several months running now (more here on that). And the tightening mortgage-lending market as well has impacted the largely suburban borough.

Queens home sales fell 35.2 percent annually in the third quarter to 3,240. Brooklyn home sales were down over 38 percent annually; and prices dropped as well.

In Queens, the average home sales price dropped 8.8 percent annually in the third quarter to $436,575. It was also down slightly from the second quarter. Other findings from the Miller Samuel-Douglas Elliman report:

• The time it takes to sell a Queens home increased nearly 10 percent annually to 100 days from the last listing price.
• The inventory of unsold homes on the sales market held steady for the last 12 months, finishing the third quarter at 11,377.
• The average condo sales price was $465,504, up from last year and last quarter. The median condo price was $415,000, also up quarterly and annually.
• The average one- to three-family home price was $553,353, down 8.1 percent from last year. The median price was $535,000, down 6.5 percent annually. Over 56 percent of Queens sales in the third quarter involved these homes.
• The average co-op price was $236,245 and the median was $215,000. Both were up quarterly and yearly.