From the desk of Paul Breunich, President and Chief Executive Officer of William Pitt and Julia B. Fee Sotheby’s International Realty
Today we’re back with our monthly analysis of the Westchester County real estate market, after recently reporting on Westchester’s market results in January, which you can review here. First quarter to date finds the county performing similarly to how it performed throughout 2018, with moderate declines in unit sales versus the prior year. Dollar volume experienced a sharper decline, as discussed further below in our summary of Westchester County overall.
The charts included illustrate sales results in Westchester across multiple price ranges in the county overall, the southern county and the northern county, for the period from January 1 to February 28, 2019. All data is provided by the Hudson Gateway Multiple Listing Service.
We will continue to deliver a more highly detailed review in our quarterly reports. We hope you find this information valuable in evaluating your own real estate needs, and invite you to contact one of our sales associates if we can assist you in any way.
Westchester County Overall
Year to date, Westchester is down 4% in unit sales versus January and February 2018, with sales down by 28 units from 695 to 667. Dollar volume was more significantly down by 12.5%, a decline largely driven by just a handful of sales that occurred in the first two months of 2018. The $33 million sale of the David Rockefeller estate early last year represents a notable outlier, on its own accounting for 5.7% of that 12.5% year over year decrease. Another 1.5% of the drop is a function of the $5 to $10 million range, where 4 transactions closed last year versus only 2 this year. This means that just 5 sales from early 2018, all in the southern county, are single handedly responsible for close to 7% of the dollar volume decline year to date we are now seeing throughout Westchester County. Below $5 million, dollar volume is off by a more moderate 5.3%, and below $2 million, it stands flat year over year.
Southern Westchester County
In the southern county, unit sales declined by a slight 2% year over year, a difference of only 10 units with 450 sales closing in January and February versus 460 the same time last year. Dollar volume saw a steeper decline of 16.7%, driven by just a few sales in the luxury sector that closed in the first two months last year, as discussed above. The Rockefeller deal alone accounts for 7.6% of the 16.7% decrease in the southern county, and approximately 5.6% of the decline is found in the $5 to $10 million range. Below $5 million, dollar volume is down a more moderate 3.5%.
Northern Westchester County
In the northern county, unit sales decreased by 8%, or 18 units, year over year, with 217 closings in January and February 2019 versus 235 the same time last year. Dollar volume held steady, standing even with last year.
Respectfully,
Paul E. Breunich
203.913.5730
