Housing downturn catches up with Binghamton, N.Y.
— -- For a long time, the housing market in Binghamton, N.Y., the county seat of Broome County, seemed to dodge the problems battering the rest of the nation.
It sailed through the mortgage crisis. Home sales had not skyrocketed, so they didn't crash, either. And there was no construction run-up like so many other cities had seen.
Even last March, the local housing market was looking pretty rosy. It was listed as one of the top five hottest markets in the nation, according to NBC's Today show.
"For years, we lamented the fact that we didn't have new construction, and it ended up being a blessing in disguise," says Jennifer Arbach, president of the Greater Binghamton Association of Realtors. "We now don't have those $400,000 homes sitting empty on the market."
But Binghamton couldn't continue to fend off the gloomy national economy. Late last year, the housing market slipped.
Prices started to drop, and home sales fell. By January, sales dropped 27.8% compared with the same month in 2008.
In the Binghamton metro area, jobs are down, says Christian Harris, a senior economist for New York State Labor Department. "We have held off from the national ills for quite awhile," he says. "Unfortunately, we are definitely catching up."
He expects the housing market to remain in a slump the rest of the year.
At least the downturn in home prices has attracted home buyers. "We are starting to see multiple offers" on houses, Arbach says. "And that's a good sign."
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