Luxury home sales north of New York City increased by double digits in Q3

This home on High Ridge Road in Garrison — selling for $4,295,000 — graces the cover of the “Houlihan Lawrence Q3 Luxury Market Report,” detailing an increase in high-end home sales north of New York City, with some caveats. Photograph by Ann Day.

Luxury home sales in Westchester County (closed sales $2 million-plus) and Putnam and Dutchess counties (closed sales $1 million-plus) increased by double digits in the third quarter, according to the “Houlihan Lawrence Q3 Luxury Market Report.” The good news is tempered: The growing number of closed sales is concentrated in the lower end of the luxury market. Also, while sales increased in the counties north of New York City, the median home price was often down, with Darien and New Canaan being notable exceptions. This may be due, experts have said, to affluent homeowners being unaffected by heretofore high interest rates, often paying with cash, while the same interest rates keep mid-range homes on the market longer at a perhaps decreasing price.

Sales over $5 million have declined in Westchester and pended sales, a forward-looking indicator, of $5 million-plus are down from the same period last year, added Houlihan Lawrence, a 136-year-old firm serving Westchester, Putnam, Dutchess, Columbia, Ulster and Orange counties in New York and Fairfield County in Connecticut with more than 1,450 agents in 32 offices.

In Greenwich, demand is strong up to the $10 million-plus price bracket. While the number of active $10 million-plus listings has increased by 50% from last year, the demand (pended sales) has dramatically dropped off. The report noted that there are a finite number of uber-luxury buyers in every market, suggesting that perhaps so many buyers already made a $10 million-plus purchase the past few years that fewer remaining buyers equate to a statistical sales drop.

In other Connecticut markets, such as Darien and New Canaan, luxury inventory is being absorbed quickly. The report said that once rates take a meaningful decline, many sellers with a low-interest rate mortgage may reconsider putting their homes on the market and help bolster the number of luxury homes for sale.

The recent interest rate decline and the resiliency of the equities markets is good economic news for the luxury market, Houlihan Lawrence said. Still, the presidential election, less than three weeks away, is weighing on the minds of most voters. Real estate watchers have noted that in the past many would-be luxury buyers stayed on the sidelines until a president was elected. They’re waiting to see if the Q4 market report will illuminate the effect of the election with data-based insight.

Q3 markets at a glance (Q3 2024 versus Q3 2023)

Westchester County luxury home sales — $2 million-plus

Homes sold – Up 23.9%

Median sale price – Down 3.4%

Q3 highest sale price — $9,900,000 (city of Rye)

Putnam and Dutchess luxury home sales, $1 million-plus

Homes sold – Up 34.4%

Median sale price – Down 4.9%

Q3 highest sale price Putnam — $3,500,000 (Garrison)

Q3 highest sale price Dutchess — $3,675,000 (Amenia)

Greenwich luxury home sales, $3 million-plus

Homes sold – Up 24.6%