3 New York Housing Markets That Have Plummeted in Value Over the Past Decade
Written by
J. Arky
Edited by
Amber Barkley
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“If you can make it there, you can make it anywhere.” While that popular saying might pertain mostly to New York City, the state at large offers lots of opportunities to invest, including real estate. However, not every real estate investment will prove to be a good one. Only in the last ten years, several markets in New York state have dropped significantly, leading many to wonder when, if ever, they will bounce back.
GOBankingRates reached out to real estate agents and experts to find out which New York housing markets have plummeted in value over the past decade.
Elmira
Over the past decade, Elmira has experienced a strong decline in house values, according to Daniel Cabrera, the founder and CEO of Fire Damage House Buyer. “Now, the average cost of a home is around $87,000 — a far cry from what it was.”
Reasons behind this sharp decline in Elmira have mainly to do with economic challenges and people leaving.
“The high level of unemployment and unavailability of jobs in Elmira have minimized demand for housing,” Cabrera explained, noting that the area has “experienced a decline in population, which further lowers demand for housing and adds to falling property values.”
Long Island City, Queens
“Long Island City, within Queens, also somehow struggles with falling center prices,” said Nathan Richardson, the founder of CashForHome. “This region underwent a speculative increase notably before the planned Headquarters 2 Project launched by Amazon, which later got shelved in 2019. After this, reportedly, many projects remained unsold, which lowered the average property costs.”
Richardson added that the combination of overdevelopment of luxury condominiums, along with low demand, has further dampened the local property market.
Montauk, Long Island
Cabrera highlighted how devaluation in some of the coastal properties of Long Island has been so large that certain multi-million-dollar homes in Montauk have lost up to 50% of their value.
Environmental factors are driving the value of homes down as insurance and maintenance costs rise with the ever changing threat and effects of climate change at play.
“Higher sea levels and storm activity cause massive erosion and property damage, reducing the appeal and safety of homes on the coasts,” Cabrera said. “High and increasing costs of insuring and maintaining such properties against environmental hazards have discouraged buyers, thus depressing property values.”
Conclusion
“Naturally, these changes are related to trends observed … as a whole and to the particular condition of the market,” Richardson said, adding that, as a buyer, “you have the opportunity to make decisions about the importance of particular amenities, space or value for money.”
He added, “The areas have faced pressure from construction and changing buyer demands, but if the sellers gave in to changing their prices to the required standards of the buyer’s market, this situation might improve.”
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