WWW.QNS.COM RIDGEWOOD TIMES JULY 16, 2020 9
While sales have
decreased, it’s still
a good time to buy
a home in Queens
BY JACOB KAYE
JKAYE@SCHNEPSMEDIA.COM
@QNS
While the COVID-19 crisis has
certainly aff ected the real
estate market in Queens in
a major way, a new report found that
it’s a good time to be a home buyer in
the “World’s Borough” and that the
market’s future might not be so bleak.
Though the number of home sales
hit record lows in the second quarter
of 2020, the median sales price in
Queens hasn’t seen an annual decline
in 17 months, according to the
report from Douglas Elliman.
Queens’ real estate market was in
a healthy position before the real
estate market was shut down to slow
the spread of COVID-19, the report
said. The median sales price in the
borough saw a 6 percent increase
during the second quarter of this
year, up to $607,350.
“Queens benefited before the
pandemic because the Manhattan
consumer was priced out of the
market,” said Steven James, president
and CEO of Douglas Elliman’s
New York City operations. “Going
into the pandemic, Queens was in a
much better position and coming out
of it they are going to be in a better
position.”
The massive decline in sales and
in listings – the number of homes for
sale dropped by 18.5 percent in the
second quarter of this year – isn’t a
major concern to James, who said the
drop was natural.
“All of this is a reflection of what
happens when a real estate market
is completely shut off,” James said.
“The sales absolutely stop and as a
result of that, all the sales are way,
way down.”
Slowing the market down even
further, James said, is the unwillingness
of sellers to sell their home at a
number below their original asking
price.
“When there are transitions like
this, the seller usually takes a longer
period of time before they’ll take
anything lower,” James said. “But
you need to be realistic. It’s probably
very unlikely that a buyer is going
to come in and give you your asking
price.”
For that reason, the report suggests
that while there aren’t as many
buyers in the market right now, it’s a
good time to be one.
James said that home sellers
should be sensitive to the fact that
buyers are looking for a deal and
that because the market is small,
sellers need to be “reasonable.”
“You need to be prepared before
you even go into the market that
there’s going to be negotiability,”
James said. “You want to be open and
try to work with the buyer.”
While the market may have slowed
to a near halt in the past few months,
James said he is optimistic that it will
bounce back by the fall.
“For July and August, it’s going to
be a kind of slow process. Everybody
is going to be testing each other out,”
James said. “I think we’ll see better
results after Labor Day. I feel there is
probably a bit of pent up demand.”
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