With the full legislature and governor facing re-election in 2026, HGAR and NYSAR are already preparing for what could be a watershed year for housing policy.
The NYC Rent Guidelines Board voted to approve rent increases of 3% for one-year leases and 4.5% for two-year leases on rent-stabilized apartments.
NAR successfully secured its top five priorities in the final package.
The average mortgage rate was 6.65% in March, down from a 6.96% average in January and down from a 6.84% average in February.
Total housing inventory registered at the end of March was 1.33 million units, up 8.1% from February and 19.8% from one year ago (1.11 million).
Median sales prices of single-family homes throughout the Bronx and lower Hudson Valley all saw gains, with Sullivan County at an 18.3% hike from last year’s $299,998 to $335,000.
Westchester County consistently leads the market with the highest median sale prices, peaking at $1,031,500 in June 2024 before settling at $860,000 in March 2025.
Looking ahead, the second quarter of 2025 is expected to bring a modest increase in listing activity as would-be sellers grow more comfortable with the new normal of interest rates and recalibrated expectations.
The top remodeling projects that Realtors recommend sellers complete before listing their homes include painting the entire home (50%), painting a single interior room (41%) and installing new roofing (37%).
The report revealed that 24% of recent home buyers were purchasing for the first time, a significant drop from 32% last year.
NAR forecasts mortgage rates will average 6.4% in 2025 and 6.1% in 2026.
Buyers paid 14.4% as a share of purchase price and $29,900 on average in 2024, up from 14.2% and $27,200 in 2023.
“Home buyers are slowly entering the market,” said NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun.
Reviewing February’s closed sales of single-family homes, only Rockland County and The Bronx saw gains of 7.1% and 4.2%, respectively.
For the first time since 2016, new construction activity outpaced household formations. Yet, the nation still faces a supply shortfall of 3.8 million homes.
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