Home prices, sales improved in third quarter

The residential real estate market in Westchester County posted a “welcome uptick” in activity during the third quarter of 2011, according to the Westchester Putnam Association of Realtors Inc. third quarter report, released on Oct. 17.

According to the WPAR”™s 2011 Third Quarter Residential Real Estate Sales Report, real estate firms participating in the Empire Access Multiple Listing Service reported a total of 1,944 closed transactions in Westchester during the period, an increase of 8.2 percent from the third quarter of 2010.

In addition, seasonally adjusted quarterly sales were up by 5 percent from the second quarter of 2011. Among the four property types ”“ single-family homes, condominiums, cooperatives, and two-to-four family homes ”“ only two-to-four family homes posted a year-over-year decline in sales during the third quarter.

The report also states that the closings largely resulted from market activity during the late spring and early summer months, due to the typical length of time it takes to process a property sale.

Through the first three quarters of 2011, real estate sales in Westchester are projecting to finish at a similar level as 2010, which the report noted was a positive sign after the major drop-off of sales in 2009.

The median sales prices of single-family homes, co-ops, and two-to-four family homes were all higher than numbers posted during the second quarter of 2011. Notably, the median sale price for single-family homes over the year was down by 6.3 percent to $684,005 from last year”™s level of $730,250.

Jonathan J. Miller, president and CEO of Miller Samuel Inc., a real estate consultancy and appraisal firm, said that gains during the third quarter represented a cause for slight optimism.

“I”™d characterize the Westchester market right now as seeing flat or stable pricing and a flat or modest uptick in sales activity,” Miller said.