Westchester Market Report 2009 3rd Quarter
Westchester County NY reported a 9.7% decrease from last year’s 3rd quarter home sales transactions. The median sale price of a single family house in Westchester was $630,000, a decrease of $80,000 or nearly 11% from last year. This would be horrible news if it weren’t for the abysmal performance of the market in the first two quarters, which were down 31% and 37% respectively.
Westchester closed 1898 transactions last quarter; down only 9.7% from the same time last year. The most severely affected properties were homes selling above $1 Million. Before 2008 million dollar homes were 25% of all transactions. In 2009, they fell to 13%, 17% and 20% by quarter.
All recent activity seems to indicate 2009 is slowly improving but will fall below 2008 levels. This follows the trend of lower prices and fewer transactions in recent history. Are we at the bottom? Job losses play a role in answering this question. Mortgage rates are still at historical lows. Buyers are taking advantage of the $8,000 first-time homebuyers’ tax credit, which has been extended past 2009 (with provisions). To get the full WPMLS Westchester report, go to AskRey.net and click on the RE NEWS tab, or…. AskRey.