HUDSON VALLEY, NY — Residential sales in the first quarter of 2022 in Orange, Putnam, Rockland and Westchester counties were down from the historic peaks of 2021, but still very strong, according to a new report from the Hudson Gateway Association of Realtors.
“Last year was such an anomaly due to COVID,” HGAR Regional Director Aaron Velez told Patch. “We’re still way ahead of where we were in 2019 and 2020. It’s the second-best first quarter in the last five years.”
Just compare the 2022 first-quarter residential sales numbers to the first quarter of 2020. Sales numbers in Westchester County are 26.9 percent higher than in 2020, and they’re 16.7 percent higher in Putnam County, 21.2 percent higher in Rockland County and a whopping 31.7 percent higher than in 2020 in Orange County.
In all areas served by OneKey MLS, prices continued to rise, with a slight increase (2.7 percent) in the single-family median sale price in Westchester County, a 14.9 percent increase in Rockland and a 10.3 percent increase in Orange County, plus a big 21.8 percent increase median sale price in Putnam County.
“It has been apparent for some time that affordability issues are becoming critical in many parts of OneKey’s geography,” HGAR officials said.
In 2019, the average median sales price for a single-family home in Westchester County was $600,000, compared with $729,000 for the first quarter of 2022. That’s a 21.5 percent increase over a 3-year period. The fact that the Westchester median sales price increase was the smallest compared to the other OneKey Counties at 2.7 percent year-over-year may be a sign of sales prices beginning to stabilize and moderate, officials said.
The market is responding as the economy in the Hudson Valley and greater metro area rebounds from the pandemic. New York City residents continue to seek homes in the Hudson Valley, and the way many businesses in NYC have dealt with the reality of the coronavirus is giving employees flexibility. “What’s not to love especially if you don’t need to commute every day?” said Velez, with Houlihan Lawrence in Putnam County.
While inflation and rising interest rates will be factors, Velez said, “Our issue is inventory. There isn’t enough out there to satisfy the demands of buyers. The question ‘where am I going to go?’ may be holding some sellers back.”
This article originally appeared on the Southeast-Brewster Patch