Home sales in New York City’s suburbs decline

Home sales in the suburbs surrounding New York City were on the decline in the second quarter as buyers became wary of prices that crept steadily higher last year.

The muted sales signal a return to normalcy after pent-up demand inflated the cost of buying, housing market analysts told the Wall Street Journal.

“We are in a bit of a Goldilocks scenario, not too hot or too cold,” Chris Meyers, managing principal at Houlihan Lawrence, told the newspaper, referring to the market in suburbs north of the city.

Home sales fell 12 percent in Westchester County from the second quarter of 2013, according to Houlihan Lawrence. In Long Island, sales dipped 6.3 percent excluding the East End, according to a Douglas Elliman report cited by the newspaper. And in New Jersey, the number of home contracts signed were down 8 percent from the first half of last year, Jeffrey Otteau, an appraiser and market analyst, told the paper. [WSJ] — Tom DiChristopher