Pre-pandemic, Houlihan Lawrence reports mostly solid Q1 regional housing activity

New data released by Houlihan Lawrence on Westchester/Dutchess/Putnam housing markets and the luxury home market in Lower Fairfield”™s Gold Coast communities found a region where sales and prices were mostly up in the submarkets, even as the COVID-19 crisis was starting to take root and begin its economic disruptions.

In a statement attached to its data releases, Houlihan Lawrence noted that the period covered by the majority of closings were made prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, adding that “first quarter sales were strong in most of the communities we serve, but closed sales are a lagging indicator and reflect market sentiment and activity during the fourth quarter of 2019. Pending sales, those scheduled to close in the next 30 to 90 days, are a leading indicator and are more indicative of what we can expect in the future.”

During the first quarter, 1,050 single-family homes were sold in Westchester, up 6.7% from the 984 sold one year earlier. The average sales price for these homes was $794,974, up from the $755,523 average sales price in the first quarter of 2019. The median sales price of $641,250 was up from the $600,000 level reached one year earlier.

Westchester”™s condominium market recorded 233 units sold in the first quarter, a 9.7% drop from the 258 transactions one year earlier. But while sales dropped, prices were up. The $466,493 average sales price increased from the $426,250 level set one year earlier, while the $390,000 median sales price was higher than the $360,000 level from last year.

In Dutchess County, 428 single-family homes sold in the first quarter, down from the 468 sales one year earlier. The average sales price of $328,097 was down from the $340,733 price in the first quarter of 2019, but the $295,000 median sales price was above the $278,000 level set last year.

Dutchess County”™s condominium market recorded 96 transactions in the first quarter, down from the 110 transactions in the previous year. Nonetheless, the average sales price for this sector reached $221,165, up from the $215,252 price recorded last year, and the median sales price of $207,000 also rose from last year”™s $190,000.

Putnam County recorded 221 single-family home sales in the first quarter, compared with 206 in the first quarter of 2019. The county”™s $371,723 average sales price was lower than the $383,663 level from the previous year; the report did not offer a year-over-year comparison of median sales prices for this market.

Putnam County”™s condominium market recorded 217 sales in the first quarter, up from the 205 transactions one year earlier. The average sales price of $254,116 was also up from the $213,006 price set one year earlier, and the $251,000 median sales price was higher than last year”™s $217,000 level.

In the first quarter luxury housing market, Westchester recorded 44 sales of homes worth $2 million and higher, up from the 29 sales one year earlier. The total dollar volume of $125 million spiked from the $87.8 million from the previous year, and the $2.73 median sales price was above the $2.62 million price from the first quarter of 2019.

The combined Putnam and Dutchess County luxury market saw the sale of 13 homes worth $1 million and higher, compared to the 10 sold one year earlier. However, the $17.6 total dollar volume represented a drop from the $22 million from the previous year, and the median sales price of $1.2 million fell from last year”™s $2.29 million price.

Across the border in Fairfield County”™s Gold Coast section, the first quarter luxury market in Greenwich saw 27 homes sold at a price of $3 million or higher, compared to 18 one year earlier. The $108.5 million total dollar volume rose from the $88 million level from the previous year, but the $3.65 million median sales price dropped from last year”™s $3.87 million level.

Darien saw 12 sales on homes worth $2 million and higher, up from six sales last year. The total dollar volume of $33.5 million was double of last year”™s $16.3 million, but the median sales price of $2.67 million was down from last year”™s $2.73 million level.

In Rowayton, there was a single transaction in the first quarter for a home worth $2 million or more, the same as the first quarter of 2019. However, both the total dollar volume and median sales price of $2.5 million was up from the first quarter 2019 total dollar volume and media sales price of $2.4 million.

New Canaan recorded the sale of seven homes worth $2 million and higher, the same as last year. The total dollar volume of $22.8 million was higher than the $18.2 million level from one year earlier. The $31.5 million median sales price was higher than the $25.5 million level from the first quarter in 2019.