EAST AURORA, N.Y. — The housing market in Western New York in 2020 is unlike anything we've ever seen. The competition is fierce, and buyers are forced to pull out all the stops.
2 On Your Side is house hunting across the region to see how much home you can get for your money during this hot and heavy market.
We're focused on affordability, looking at median home prices in several different communities with dramatically different price points. The common theme: the housing market throughout Western New York is tight.
We enlisted local real estate agent Barry Chubb to take us on a tour of some of these homes. He's been in business for three decades.
He showed us homes ranging from about $140,000 in Buffalo's Kensington neighborhood up to a home in East Aurora that was listed for $235,000 but sold for much more than that after the seller got 6 offers in the first week. You can check out the profiled homes below.
Mortgage interest rates are low, which is good for buyers. But Chubb says this is a seller's market due to extremely low inventory.
"Great for sellers," Chubb says. "But very stressful for buyers."
He doesn't think this will change any time soon.
The president of the Buffalo Niagara Association of Realtors said he doesn't expect the market to loosen up for at least 18 to 24 months. He and Chubb agreed that the biggest factors will be the strength of the economy and interest rates.
