August sales of existing single-family homes in Westchester County rose by one unit from July, but dropped more than 27 percent from sales numbers in August 2007, according to the New York State Association of Realtors (NYSAR).
The median sale price in August for a house in the county dropped by $10,000 from both the previous month and August a year ago while staying by far the highest in the state.
For the lower Hudson Valley, August house sales were up or unchanged from July in Orange, Putnam and Rockland counties and dropped in Ulster and Dutchess Counties. Dutchess County had the region”™s only double-digit sales decline, at 11.6 percent.
Statewide, Realtors reported a 1.9 percent drop in August house sales from the previous month and a 20 percent decrease from August 2007. The statewide median sale price of $225,000 in August was up 2.7 percent from July and down 10 percent from the previous August.
In Westchester, 496 homes were sold in August, compared to 682 units sold in August last year. Sales volume this August also was down nearly 24 percent from two years ago. The August median sale price here was $720,000, down from $730,000 in July and in August 2007.
Rockland County had the second highest median sale price in the region in August at $461,750. That was a 3.8 percent drop from July and 13 percent drop from August 2007. Rockland house sales numbers in August were up 3.7 percent from July but down 15.7 percent from August last year.
House sales in Putnam County held steady in August, with 66 homes sold as in July. The month”™s sales volume was down 19.5 percent from August last year. The county”™s median home sale price jumped 6.1 percent from July to August, to $418,000. The median price was up 2.6 percent from August 2007. Â
In Orange County, house sales rose 2 percent in August from July but were down 29 percent from August 2007, the largest year-to-year slump in the region. The county”™s median sale price rose slightly from July to $290,000. That was an 11 percent drop from August 2007.
In Dutchess County, the median sale price rose 2.4 percent from July to August, to $325,000. That was a 7.1 per cent drop from August last year. August sales volume in Dutchess dropped 20.4 percent from last year and about 33 percent from August 2006.
House sales in Ulster County also slowed in August, dropping 6.9 percent from July. Sales volume in the county dropped 26 percent from August last year. The median sale price in Ulster was $240,000 in August, down 10.3 percent from July and 7.5 percent from August 2007.
Despite the overall drop in house sales numbers statewide, more than half of New York”™s counties reported an increase in sales, NYSAR officials noted. NYSAR CEO Duncan R. MacKenzie called it “encouraging” that sales increased in many areas “despite a tightening in mortgage lending criteria that has left even the most creditworthy struggling to obtain a loan.”
MacKenzie said although mortgages should be more available with the government takeover of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, September house sales in New York might be hampered by consumers”™ continued concerns about the national economic crisis.
