Houses in Syracuse are sitting on the market longer than almost anywhere else in the United States, according to new data released from Realtor.com.

Only eight other markets in the country have a longer median age of inventory than Syracuse, according to the website. The median time for a house to remain on the market in Central New York is 132 days, compared to cities such as Sacramento, Calif., and San Francisco, where houses are on the market for two months or less, according to the website.

The number of houses listed on the market has dropped by approximately 15 percent since last year, CNY Central reported Thursday. This could mean local homeowners are reluctant to put their houses on the market, according to the report.

John Arquette, real estate broker and owner of John Arquette Properties, a real estate company that has offices throughout Central New York, said he thinks the local real estate market is suffering from the lack of newer and updated homes.

“The price of these older homes is not reflective of the updates they need and they are overpriced,” Arquette said.

Arquette said he thinks once sellers realize this is an opportune time to sell, the local real estate market will grow much stronger.

Mark Re, vice president and general manager of the Central New York division of RealtyUSA, said the national statistics produced by Realtor.com do not match the local statistics his agency has.

Re said his company has experienced a 22 percent increase in sales in the last year.

“In my time as a realtor, I have never seen a better time to buy and sell than now because we are in an even market,” Re said. “If a seller puts their home on the market and it’s priced correctly, it will sell quickly.”

Real estate in the Syracuse area is currently in an even market, meaning it’s neither a buyer’s nor seller’s market, Re said. But he said he predicts it will shift slightly toward a seller’s market in the spring.

Re said the National Association of Realtors has repeatedly reported that Upstate New York’s real estate market is one of the most stable in the United States.

“We are the only area in the country where we didn’t have a bubble to burst,” Re said. “We don’t usually rise or decline quickly like the rest of the country. I sincerely think there has never been a better time to buy or sell in Central New York.”

adhitzle@syr.edu | @LexieHitzler