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WPCNR REALTY REALITY. From Hudson Gateway Realtors (Edited) October 4, 2022:

Westchester County, third quarter single-family home sales of 2,006 declined 15.6% compared to the third quarter of 2021.

However, when compared to the third quarter of 2019, single-family home sales in Westchester were up 3.4%.

Condo sales in Westchester for the third quarter of 2022 decreased by 24.5% and co-op sales were on par with the previous 3rd quarter.

The County single-family median sale price of $872,000 posted a 2% increase over 2020.

The County condo median sale price of $460,000 was slightly down, and the co-op median sale price of $204,500 was 2.3% higher than the previous year 2021.

The real estate market in the lower Hudson River Valley and greater New York City suburban area continued to be battered by chronic low inventory, rising interest rates and persistent inflation during the 3rd quarter of 2022.

Resiliency and consistent buyer demand are still evident, when compared to the pre-pandemic market of 2019 three years ago.

(Editor’s note: In 2019, readers should remember real estate was lamenting the lag in sales in 2019, and prices were down. Realtors were calling homeowners in 2028 and 19 asking them to put their homes on the market. Homeowners declined because so much value in their homes had been lost due to falling prices of real estate due to reduced demand. Covid came on the scene in 2020 and people were eager to leave New York City and wanted to move into Westchester where covid was not such a danger, igniting the greatest real estate boom Westchester has seen since the 1950s.)

While total transactions are down from the previous year, median sales prices continue to increase throughout the market, driven in large part by low inventory.

HGAR contemplates a traditional seasonal market is returning replacing the reality frenzy the last two years.

Around the Mid-Hudson region, sales were not robust.

In Putnam County single-family home sales of 326 were down 10.7% compared to the third quarter of 2021, but when compared to 2019, the number of sales were almost identical. The median sales price of $505,000 was 8.6% higher than the third quarter of 2021.

Rockland County experienced a drop in transactions, with single-family home sales
down 9.2% and condo sales down 15.8%. Continuing the comparison to the second quarter of 2019, the 2022 quarter numbers are slightly ahead. The single-family median sales price of $660,000 for the third quarter of 2022 in Rockland County was 14.2% higher than 2021.

In Orange County the 3rd quarter single-family home sales number of 1,019 was down 14% over the 2021 second quarter, and the condo sales number of 138 was off an even steeper 23.3%. The single-family home median sales price was up 9.1% at $420,000 and the median condo sales price of $270,950 for the third quarter was a 13.4% increase over the 2021
third quarter.

In Sullivan County the single-family sales number of 300 transactions was just slightly higher than the 298 total of the previous year and the median sales price was up more than 10% percent when compared to the 3rd quarter of 2021

Shifting closer to the city, the Bronx market continued to show signs of strength, in the 3rd quarter of 2022, with singlefamily home sales ahead 9.2% over the 3rd quarter of 2021. The median sales price of $630,000 was 6.8% ahead of last year. However, condo sales lagged from the previous 3rd quarter.

As we have stated in previous sales reports for 2022, there will continue to be challenges in comparing sales numbers to the pandemic year of 2020, when the market came to a grinding halt in the second quarter, and the post-pandemic market of 2021, when pent up demand drastically sped up typical buying cycles.

Given negative economic headlines and the ongoing debate of will there or won’t there be a recession,
it’s obvious that the market will not be immune to such significant headwinds. However, the 3rd quarter sales numbers do not necessarily support the doom and gloom forecasts that many prognosticators like to make, especially when making comparisons to the pre-pandemic market of 2019.

Also, the strong labor market seems to be playing a role in counterbalancing some of the adverse economic factors. As was the case at the end of the second quarter, the wild card in this analysis is a potential recession in 2023, and the length and depth of one should it occur. Until then, the numbers
support a conclusion of a resilient real estate market that ishampered by low inventory but still supported by strong buyer demanc.