Real Estate Quarterly Report Released, and What it Means in Yorktown

The real estate market is still deep in the doldrums, but not as bad as it was in 2009, at the depths of the great recession, according to the second quarterly report of the Westchester Putnam Association of Realtors and the Greater Hudson Valley Multiple Listing Service.

At first glance, the statistics might look frightening with the second quarter results for 2011 showing that overall sales were down by 22 percent in Westchester, Rockland and Putnam counties compared with the second quarter in 2010.

“Those results are misleading because they reflect the boost in sales of the federal stimulus programs in 2010,” said Donald Mituzas, Vice President of the Westchester/Putnam Association of Realtors and an associate broker with Prudential Douglas Elliman in Katonah. “But signs are good that the market is now stabilizing, certainly with price, and it’s all about being at the right price now to sell." 

In 2009, 1,070 homes were sold in the region in the second quarter, compared with 1,370 sold in this period, which in a way shows growth. The current number reflects that significant 22 percent decline from 2010 when people were rushing to buy, perhaps sooner than they otherwise might have bought, to beat the tax credit deadline.

Here in Westchester, 986 single-family homes were sold in the second quarter, which represents a 17-percent drop from the second quarter in 2010. But while the number of sales dropped, the prices and inventory increased.

In Westchester, the median priced home right now is $622,750, an increase of 2.5 percent since the same period in 2010. But that increase, according to Gil Mercurio, CEO of the Westchester Putnam Association of Realtors, can also be misleading because “there has been more activity in the higher priced range than in the lower priced category.”

Demonstrating that observation are the statistics that 24 percent of homes sold for $1 million or more in the second quarter of 2011, compared with just 20 percent sold in 2010 and 17 percent in 2009. 

At the same time, home inventories rose 4 percent in Westchester to 4,720 properties.

“These numbers are stronger than we might have expected,” said Mike Grasslle, an associate broker at Better Homes and Gardens Rand Realty in White Plains. “The local housing market has shown to be resilient in the face of continuing high unemployment and the banks tightening lending standards.”

Gary Leogrande, principal broker with Keller Williams New York Realty in White Plains and Bedford, as well as President of the EAMLS listing service, is more optimistic than the statistics might suggest.

“I’ve been digging and found that more contracts were signed during the month of June in 2011 than in 2010," he said.

As a consequence, he said, he thinks there will be an increase in sales in August and September, which is normally the case anyway before the school season.

"So, I think we’re no longer at the bottom," Leogrande said, "Especially when you consider that home prices are at an all-time low, as are the mortgage rates, and that we have a good inventory to choose from, and even though it’s a little tougher to qualify for a mortgage --  why would anyone wait to buy?”

Honing in on how this report plays out in Yorktown, comparing this quarter with those in 2010 and 2009, here are the comparative figures:

In 2009, there was a total of 40 single family homes sold in the second quarter, compared with 67 sold in that same period in 2010, affected by the tax stimulus, and 42 homes were sold during this period in 2011, indicating an increase over 2009. 

The median priced home, meaning the price in the middle of all those sold, rather than the average, was $400,740 in 2009, compared with $409,900 in 2010, and $380,000 in 2011. The steep falloff in the median price this year simply indicates that there are now more lower priced homes being sold in Yorktown than in the preceding two years.

The average price of homes sold are: $414,885 in 2009, $443, 031 in 2010, and $401,985. Again, this reflects that more higher priced homes were sold at the time of the tax credits in 2010, and more lower priced homes were sold in 2011.

Overall, Yorktown seems to be holding its own in terms of houses sold and the prices at which they are sold. In fact, the present time offers unprecedented opportunity for buyers at the present time.