Home Builders’ Ad Says Albany’s Not Bad
The Capital Region Builders and Remodelers Association in Albany, NY has launched an advertising campaign for the second year in a row to boost the local housing market. Fearing that too many local residents have bought into the media’s portrayal of national housing statistics, the association is spending $40 million on two 30-second commercials. The ads will be seen over the next couple months on local television stations, pushing the message, “Don’t believe the national headlines.”
The ads don’t include statistics, but maybe they should have because the statistics aren’t altogether bad. For instance, median home prices in the Albany region grew 1.8 percent last year, while there was a 1.4-percent decline in median home prices nationwide. On the national scene, sales of existing homes dropped 13 percent, and new home sales dropped 26.4 percent. In the Albany region, sales of new and existing homes saw a combined decrease of only eight percent. This was the first time in 10 years the Albany region saw a year-over-year decline.
Indeed, Albany was number four on our list of the top 12 residential real estate markets that offer hope. They have managed to weather the storm fairly well thus far. Syracuse also made the list. Seattle, Austin, Salt Lake City and Boston did as well, along with a sprinkling of smaller markets. There are plenty of blog posts out there about how local markets are faring better than the national statistics, but this is the first I’ve heard about a home builders’ association taking things into their own hands. Kudos to them for trying to boost the local economy and building industry.
