Hastings Housing Market Fares Well in Tough Economy

While Hastings' housing market hasn't suffered as much as others in New York, residents are still feeling the effects of a long-lasting recession that's even forcing some to head to more affordable locales.

During the first quarter of this year, 20 homes were sold in Hastings, with an additional 12 pending closure or under conditional contracts. First quarter sales reflect homes bought during the fall of last year. The average home price in Hastings during that time was about $700,000.

According to the Westchester and Putnam Association of Realtors, single family home sales in the county were up from 426 in the first quarter of 2009 to 756 in the first quarter of 2010. The group also noted that mortgage rates were notably low, in the range of 5.2 to 5.4 percent on conventional 30-year loans, they said.
 
These low interest rates and the $8,000 Federal Housing Tax Credit program that ended in April provided incentive for those able to purchase homes to do so. However the the Village of Hastings' hefty property tax bills--averaging about $15,000 a year--remain a controversial issue, especially for residents living on fixed incomes. 

This problem most recently came to the forefront of community discourse during the vote on a $42.4 million school budget last month.

According to the 2010-2011 Hastings-on-Hudson School District, 82.6 percent of revenues comprise of property taxes, though the budget decreases district spending by 0.4 percent and property taxes by 0.28 percent.

While about two-thirds of voters supported the budget, 654 Hastings residents voted against it.

In the Hastings-on-Hudson Community Comments survey conducted by the Hunter College Urban Planning Studio in 2008, 387 respondents answered, "do you plan to stay in Hastings when you retire?" A majority--65.6 percent--said they planned to stay in Hastings, while 34.4 percent said they planed to move. 

In the comments section of the report, nearly all of the respondents cited increasing property taxes as the main reason they would not be able to remain in Hastings.

But are all sellers in the current market leaving Hastings solely because of the high property taxes?

Sales associate Peter M. Riolo, a third generation member of his family's Hastings-based real estate company, says no.

"In real estate, people sell for all different reasons," Riolo explained. "People sell for some unfortunate reasons like divorce or they sell an estate when someone's passed away. People trade up in this market as well. If they have an expanding family, they purchase something larger. There's not just one motivating factor."

But while the quaint village has become known by some for flocks of high-earning, artsy types moving up from the city, Riolo noted that buyers come from diverse backgrounds and locations. 

"I have buyers and sellers from all different walks of life. Hastings is a great mix: You get people from all over the world who want the access to Manhattan, views of the majestic Palisades and Hudson River, and the amount of green space we have here."

Hastings-on-Hudson Building Department Assistant Marie Oelkers told Patch that the village hasn't had any new single-family homes built in the past two years. While she noted that there have been many renovations to existing homes within that same time frame, Riolo said the lack of room for new development in Hastings is one reason why the real estate market here has fared relatively well over the course of the recession. 

"There's finite availability, finite space and steady demand that's brought up with the affluence of the Manhattan market," Riolo said. "Throughout the whole time of this financial crisis we've been very lucky to be where we are and it's because what's offered to the people that live here."