Westchester’s co-op and condo market finally seems to be climbing back to pre-housing-crash levels. Overall, the Lower Hudson Valley region’s real estate market “appears to be shedding the last of any remaining baggage from the recession that bottomed sales and prices in 2009,” notes the Hudson Gateway Association of Realtors in its report following the first quarter of 2014. “With some few exceptions, there is now strong pent-up demand by buyers in most parts of the region, in all price ranges, and among all residential property types.”
The numbers show a mixed bag, however. Through the second quarter of 2014, condominium sales in Westchester were down 12.6 percent from the same point last year, while co-op sales were up 8 percent, according to the Association. Inventory for condos was up 6 percent, with co-op inventory down 6.8 percent.
Why the strong demand for co-ops? “The ‘lower-priced’ buyers are finally coming back to the market,” says Mark Seiden, president of the Mark Seiden Real Estate Team in Briarcliff Manor. A second-quarter report from Sotheby’s International Realty, credits the strong co-op performance to “a very good second quarter in Northern Westchester, where co-op sales[rose significantly].” The average sales price for co-ops in Q2 2014 was $176,275, as opposed to $190,047 in the second quarter of 2013, according to Douglas Elliman Real Estate. For condos, the average Q2 sales price reached $436,537 in 2014, up from $424,837 last year.
