Colonie

Housing sales in the Capital Region were down 3 percent in April compared to the prior year, amid low inventory and rising home prices, according to newly released data from the  Greater Capital Association of Realtors.

GCAR, as the association is known, runs the Eastern New York Regional Multiple Listing Service that collects data on property listings and sales prices.

Despite the drop in the number of homes sold during April from 834 last year to 813 this year, prices were up nine percent.

The average home sales price was $238,000, up from $218,418, and the median sale price was $211,500 this April, compared to $194,500 a year ago.

Those prices are creating optimism. Listings were up 4 percent, with 1,729 listings during the month of April, compared to 1,661 a year ago.

"Many sellers and builders are in a good position for financial gains, as the local economy continues to favor putting existing homes on the market and building new homes for sale," GCAR President Susan Sommers of Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate Tech Valley said in a statement.

For the first four months of the year, housing sales are flat, with the average home sales price up 5 percent.

The best housing market for April was in Schenectady County, where home sales were up 16 percent and the average sale price was $173,578.

Housing prices continue to be the highest in Saratoga County where the economy has been humming along. Although housing sales were up just 1 percent in April in Saratoga County, with 204 homes sold, the average sales price increased 13 percent to $334,829.

Albany County also had solid home sales growth in April, with a 5 percent increase in April and a 3 percent increase in the average price of $251,461.

Rensselaer County's housing market continues to be extremely tight, with just 90 home sale closings in April, a decrease of 17 percent over April 2017. Average sale prices were up 21 percent, however, to $221,363.

GCAR CEO Laura Burns said in a release that a stronger economy, wage growth and an improving job market are expected to drive home sales and home prices higher during the second half of the year.