Is the Westchester Housing market beginning to thaw?

According to the Westchester Putnam-Multiple listing service, sales of single-family homes in Westchester County fell to their worst levels, during the first quarter of 2009, since 1982. The median price declined by 14.5%, and inventory levels increased by more than 6.5%. The spring selling season has started, and you are adjusting to the changing expectations of buyers and helping sellers adapt to new realities of the market.

Loretta Chiavetta, with Coldwell Banker in Pleasantville, captured the essence of the mantra that I heard from virtually everyone “If a property is priced well, it will sell quickly, if it is overpriced, it will sit.” Loretta senses a changing mood. “Last year buyers were fearful, now they are hopeful. Seller's understand that their property will sell at fair market value, not the price their neighbors got for their house three years ago.” As Kitty Schwartz, the principal of Classic Home Staging in Mt. Kisco suggests with her common-sense approach, “Sitting on an overpriced home in this market is an expensive proposition, especially with taxes going up!”

Many sellers are downsizing and there is a sense of balance emerging in the market. Scott Richardson with Richardson Realty/Keller-Williams notes that “Down-sizers are willing to accept lower prices on their homes, realizing they are also going to get a great price on the next move.” Schwartz, also recognizes the value of the ebb and flow that is at work in the market when she observes that “excess house size for one buyer is the perfect “down size” for another.”

Tom Consaga the Broker/Owner of Remax/Ace reports “Most of the recent shoppers are first time home buyers, approximately fifty percent of the ones that I have seen have been from NYC.” Many of these buyers are families with young kids, and are, according to Consaga, “shopping schools as much as they are houses.” Michelle Toretta, a member of Team Richardson is seeing first time buyers who are looking to take advantage of the tax credit provisions of the Federal stimulus program as an added enticement to the favorable market conditions.

Sharon Foley, a veteran agent with Century 21/Haviland, reinforced this observation as she sees “starter homes doing well as long as they do not need a tremendous amount of work. The exception to “fixer-upper” rule is if they are in "the grid", meaning the village streets that surround the schools and within walking distance to the train.” Sheila Siderow, founder of Siderow Kennedy in Chappaqua believes that certain underlying market truths remain constant even as prices and home values change, “The buyers are actively looking in areas that boast great school systems, welcoming communities and reliable commute time and parking.”

It is a good time to evaluate the market. A confluence of slightly reduced taxes ( where property taxes have been successfully grieved), lower asking prices based on recent comparable sales, and historically low interest rates do not come along often.