Compass, a real estate agency new to the county in 2018, released its Q1-Q3 Westchester Market Report for 2019. Single family homes by school district were analyzed in the report, which showed the county is down only 2% in total sales and even less in average price point.
There was a total of 4,430 homes sold in Westchester in 2019, which provided a sales volume of more than $3.8 billion. The average sales price was over $866,000, and the county saw an increase of more than 2% in days on the market, up to an average of 75.
“The report showed growth in the mid to northern Westchester school districts such as Bryam Hills, Croton Harmon, Somers, and Yorktown, which don’t get the levels of press that the Southern Westchester districts receive,” says Jason Wilson, Senior Managing Director at Compass Westchester. “Buyers have come to see the value of adding 20 to 40 minutes to their NYC commute in exchange for more house for the money further north.”
Rye City was the district with the highest average price — over $2 million — followed by Bronxville, then Purchase and Scarsdale.
A stand-out figure in the report was the change in average sales price recorded for Pocantico Hills, which was shown to be down 79.5%. According to Wilson, the dramatic increase was due to the 2018 sale of the David Rockefeller Estate for a historic $33 million.
Some other stand-out figures were the increases in days on the market in towns like Irvington, Hastings, and Tuckahoe. Irvington, for example, saw a 56.5% increase in days on the market due to a later-than-usual spring market, says Wilson: Buyers were watching interest rates and increased inventory options, and wanted to know if they were going to owe taxes or receive a refund with the new tax law.
“Even with all the luxury rental options on the market and the tax changes, people still decided to plant their roots in Westchester as homeowners,” says Wilson.
