…The third quarter Queens housing market
was characterized by stable pricing, falling
inventory, sliding sales, faster marketing times
and less price negotiability between sellers and
buyers. The slide in sales despite record-low
mortgage rates was largely due to declining
inventory levels and irrationally tight mortgage
underwriting standards.

Listing inventory continued to fall. There were
9,052 listings at the end of the third quarter,
12.2% below the prior year total of 10,305.
The number of sales followed a similar trend,
as lower inventory began to temper sales
activity. There were 2,509 sales in the third quarter, 8.5% fewer than 2,743 sales in the
same period last year. The monthly absorption
rate, the number of months to sell all active
inventory at the current pace of sales, was 10.8
months, faster than 11.3 months a year ago but
consistent with the 10.6-month 7-year average…