CAPITAL REGION, N.Y. (NEWS10) -Frustrating is how the Gucciardo Real Estate Group describes New York’s housing market. The days of a 3% interest rate are replaced by 6.5 to 7%.

But Anthony Gucciardo said pricy homes already on the market are still getting picked up quick. “The house that’s behind me here that’s $899,000 in Niskayuna, this house in Boston or Westchester would be $1.5 or $1.6 million. So we’re still very affordable and that’s what driving the market.”

Affordable is different for everyone. Building in the Capital Region though, that’s less expensive compared to buying this Niskayuna home. But what are you getting by building?

“As much as the builders would like to build affordable housing in the Capital Region, you really can’t build anything less than $600,000 and that’s a pretty basic house,” explained Gucciardo.

Beyond out of state markets, the cost of materials is also driving prices for new homes. Down in Columbia County, Rapp Construction Management continues building luxury homes anywhere from $1.5 to $5.5 million. 

“Year over year, we’ll typically see an increase of somewhere in the 8 to 12% range. That never really goes away and it’s all just reflective of the cost of labor and the cost of the materials to put the goods together,” stated Aaron Smith, the owner of RappCM.

If you were to build a new home in the Capital Region, around $500,000 to $600,000 for just the basics, Gucciardo told NEWS10’s Anthony Krolikowski that a family should be bringing in $200,000 a year. According to the Department of Justice, the median family income for two people in New York is $89,000.

“If you factor in the equity you have in the current home that you own and you have $150,000 or $200,000 in equity, which many people in the Capital Region do, then I think you can bump up your purchasing price to $650,000 to $700,000,” added Gucciardo.

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