Miriam Bernstein,Westchester County Real Estate

Over the past month a reporter for the New York Times has been commuting all over the tri state of New York to get a glimpse into what commuting in this area is like. 18 trips in the last month and he will do a few more over the next week.

He has found that some people find their commute to be the bain of their existence, some are ok with it so they can get a house they can afford in a school district and community they want to live in and some commuters use the time to relax and unwind after a day at the office.

Commuting to New York City from the New York Times.

Taking the global spotlight for its economic efforts, Westchester County has been named one of the Top Seven Intelligent Communities of the Year by The Intelligent Community Forum (ICF), a non-profit international think tank that focuses on job creation and economic development in the broadband economy.


The Top Seven announcement which was made on Monday in Honolulu, Hawaii, is the second stage of ICF's annual Intelligent Community awards cycle, which garners hundreds of nominations each year from around the world. Gaining a place among the Top Seven is a major achievement as well as a step toward even greater recognition for Westchester's efforts to successfully use broadband and information technology to attract leading edge businesses, stimulate job creation, and generate sustainable economic growth.

For the first time, the Top Seven included three American communities, plus three from the rest of the world that were named to the list a second time. The other finalists include Dundee, Scotland, United Kingdom; Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada; Gangnam District, Seoul, South Korea; Northeast Ohio, USA; Tallinn, Estonia; Winston-Salem, North Carolina, USA. For a more detailed list, see http://www.intelligentcommunity.org/.

http://www.westchestergov.com/news_top7.htm

One of the school websites I have had on my site and blogs has been the one form Standard and Poor's. You could look up school district statistics, data on test scores, student-teacher ratios etc. The public requested more information, not just statistics. So, Standard and Poor's partnered with our local newspaper, The Journal News, which has for the past five days run a series that is all encompassing about the school districts in Westchester County, New York. Lot's of videos and interviews around the county with teachers and administrators. There is a discussion of what you get for your tax dollars, district to district. There is a discussion about living in the wealthier districts and is it worth the larger tax bills. This report gives insight that previous statistics didn't address.

• Day 1: Value
• Day 2: Risk Factors
• Day 3: Money Matters
• Day 4: Better Buy
• Day 5: Debating Values

To read the entire report from the Journal News, Our Schools, Our Money. To visit the reconfigured Standard and Poor's School Site, click here.

The real estate market is different throughout Westchester County. While in certain areas in Mamaroneck the Absorption rate is 16 weeks it is an entirely different matter in the White Plains area. These are for single family houses and the absorption rate is in weeks. A little snippet:

All of White Plains:

• Year #Sold Average Median DOM
• 2004 69 602,271 545,000 120
• 2005 73 714,023 599,000 108
• 2006 49 678,671 640,000 128
• 2007 38 746,426 662,500 126
• Absorption Rate 35.22

Since White Plains is so diverse I also did $1,000,000- $2,000,000

Year #Sold Average Median DOM

• 2004 20 1,280,878 1,235,500 154
• 2005 36 1,341,042 1,316,500 139
• 2006 28 1,220,491 1,175,000 146
• 2007 25 1,332,300 1,300,000 176
• Absorption Rate 78

It is impossible to read the newspapers or watch the news show without hearing dire reports of the housing market. Talk about over saturation of a subject. To me it is like listening to the weather reports sometimes they get it right, mostly they don't and listening to it is not helpful so I don't. I am going to stop listening to all the predictions and pollsters. If you watched what happened in New Hampshire primary last night you saw every news reporter talking about the demise of Hillary Clinton's campaign and all of these reports were backed by poll after poll which all turned out to be wrong. They all predicted Obama to win with double digits while at the same time reporting that 50% of the voters were independent and hadn't decided, huh?

Timing the real estate market is something that is not possible. If you try to time the market you also have to factor in what interest rates will be at the bottom. You may buy a house at a lower number but the interest rate you pay may not be at the lowest. This morning the rates on Bankrate.com for a 30 year fixed rate mortgage is 5.56%. Buyers still need to buy and sellers still need to sell. Factors other than timing the market matter. Kids starting school, new job, relocation, Estate sales, divorces all drive buying and selling. Putting your life on hold waiting for the housing market to lower? Probably not a good idea. Getting your best price at any stage of the market is a good idea. What goes up comes down and what is down goes up. Just my opinion.