Westchester single-family home median sales price hits record high

Even though the Federal Reserve had not yet instituted its half-point cut in interest rates, the median sales prices for single-family homes rose in five lower Hudson Valley counties in August with Westchester County’s median sales price setting a new record.

The median sales price for single-family home sales in Westchester in August was $1.118 million, according to data from the HGAR, the Hudson Gateway Association of Realtors and the multiple listing service OneKey MLS. August’s record price eclipsed the record that had been set in June of $1.03 million. On a percentage basis, Putnam County showed the most dramatic rise with the median sales price hitting $625,000, a gain of 26.3%.

The flip side was that the number of homes sold declined in each of the five counties when compared with August 2023. In Westchester, sales dropped from 356 units to 329, down 9.9%. Sullivan saw a 4.2% decline, Rockland a 10.6% decline, Putnam a 5.7% drop and Orange was down 4.2%.

“Lower inventory and strong demand continue to fuel home prices throughout the New York metro area and lower Hudson Valley,” HGAR CEO Lynda Fernandez said. “Declining interest rates should result in more properties coming onto the market this fall, creating a more balanced market.”

Both the condo and co-op markets in Westchester experienced growth in median sales prices of 10.3% and 12.6%, respectively. August’s median price for condos was $517,700. The price for co-ops was $227,500. Co-op sales were down by 26.4% in August. The condo market saw an increase in sales of 14.7%.

In Putnam County, while single-family home sales declined by 5.7% in August, condo sales went up by 44.4%, although the actual number of units changing hands was small. Putnam had 13 condos for sale last month compared with nine last year at this time. There were no co-op sales reported in August.

In Rockland County, the co-op median sales price went up 63.9% to $191,000 from $116,500 in August of 2023. Nine co-op sales closed in August. The condo market saw an 18.6% increase in the median sales price to $421,000 with 42 units sold. The median price of single-family homes grew by 7.8% to $748,750, with 178 homes sold.

In Orange County, condo closings fell by 29.8% to 33 units compared with 42 a year earlier. Co-op sales increased by 50%, but only three of them were sold in August 2024 compared with two in August 2023. The median sales price for condos was $310,000 while for co-ops it was $159,900 and for single-family homes it was $465,000.

Sullivan County’s single-family median sales price moved up 2.1% to $362,500 with 68 houses sold. Condo sales were down by 50% from last year. While the percentage seems enormous there was just one condo changing hands compared with two in August 2023. There were no co-op sales reported in Sullivan County in August 2024.