What’s Going on with New York’s Housing Market? - If there's one thing that New Yorkers have in common – from Buffalo to Manhattan, Albany to Binghamton – it's that they're resilient, and apparently, so is their state's housing market!

Hurricane Sandy, the recent blizzard, and a backlog of foreclosures are just some of the reasons that you might think that the real estate industry in New York would be struggling. But instead, the latest statistics show that home sales in The Empire State are off to a great start in 2013! Specifically, according to a report released last week by the New York State Association of Realtors (NYSAR), the number of sales of single-family homes, condos, and co-ops were up 9.5% in January when compared to the same month last year.

But even though sales are going up, the number of available homes for sale is going down. However, that’s not a bad thing. After all, thanks to good ol’ supply and demand, as the inventory of homes for sale continues to shrink, home prices are rising. According to the NYSAR report, the statewide median sales price is up 5% from a year ago. In January, the statewide median sales price reached $220,000, compared to $209,500 in January 2012.

But sales prices aren't the only market indicator that is posting significant gains.

“Other January housing market data points are also very encouraging as we enter 2013 with the highest number of January pending sales since 2007 and our third straight month of year-over-year median price gains,” said NYSAR CEO Duncan R. MackKenzie in a statement that accompanied the report.

Inventory in the state has reached a 7-year low, thanks to 24 consecutive months of year-over-year declines. In fact, at the current sales rate, the statewide supply of homes stands at 8.9 months. In January 2012, that figure was at a 12.3 months’ supply. According to MacKenzie, a 6 to 6.5 months’ supply is considered balanced in the state, so New York's housing market continues to inch closer to a balance between buyers and sellers – albeit slowly!

In all, the January market posted 6,231 closed sales across the state, with an additional 7,250 other sales pending. That's a 15.9% increase in pending sales from January 2012. As an added benefit, the average number of days a home was on the market before selling in New York was 127 days. That's down 3.1% from in January 2012, when the average was 131 days.

Economists say as the inventory of homes decreases, the average number of days it takes a home to sell will too.  After all, whenever there is increased demand and a lack of inventory, multiple prospective buyers have to try and outbid each other for the property. Homes sell quicker in a seller's market, as homeowners are more likely to find a buyer willing to pay their asking price.

In January, 94.2% of homeowners who sold their properties received their listing price, and analysts say you can expect to see that percentage increase in the months to come. Why? Because there will be fewer homes on the market.

Statewide, there were 74,251 homes for sale in January, down 18.8% from the year before, when there were 92,025 properties listed.

So it seems a hurricane, a blizzard, and a backlogged foreclosure court process aren't enough to stop New York's housing market from showing signs of recovery, after all!