Middleburgh, Schoharie See Home Values Over Pre-Flood Values, But Sales Drop

It has been a long slough for the people of the Schoharie Valley to rebuild after 2011's devastating flooding. Fears of new flooding, taxation, and property damage have all played roles in damaging the local economy. Unfortunately, much of the damage continues to haunt sectors of the County, especially for real estate.

With the real estate markets re-emerging in the surrounding Counties, Schoharie has seen much of the worst behind it, but still faces an uphill climb.

One of the issues includes home values that are rebounding, slowing sales. The average list price of a home in Cobleskill today is about $155,000, while Middleburgh clocks in at $159,000 and Schoharie a much higher $193,000. Of course in negotiation these prices will recede, but for many prospective buyers it is just too much.

Both flood damaged communities have seem collective home values re-emerge even above the summer 2011 levels.

All of these figures come from the real estate site Trulia.

Middleburgh saw prices bottom out at just $55,000 in late 2011 as a wave of foreclosures and flood-damaged properties saturated the market. As the market corrected itself and some of these parcels were sold, the price rebounded strongly. Sellers responded by placing more, largely undamaged, properties on the market-- bringing the asking price well above 2011 values.

The surge in median prices also caused a decline in sales, followed by another dip in the values. As of the last figures, the sales prices have rebounded again just as sales have slumped.
Schoharie paints a very similar picture. Supervisor Gene Milone's tax credit plan may mitigate some of this effect, although prices are still significantly below early 2011 levels.

Still, we see a decline in the sheer number of sales. Schoharie had far more individual sales than Middleburgh, especially after their median sales price dipped near $42,000.

These numbers show the sheer scale of the recovery left to go. Still, many of the houses that have changed hands have been fixed and some are back to their pre-flood condition.