Sales of existing single-family houses in Westchester County took a double-digit dip in both volume and median price in October compared with a year ago, according to the New York State Association of Realtors.
House sales in the county also dropped from September to October, a typical pattern historically in the state”™s seasonal market. In Westchester though, October sales were down 6.9 percent from the previous month, compared with a 2.4 percent month-to-month decrease statewide.
In the lower Hudson Valley, only Dutchess County had a monthly increase in house sales, which were up 15.7 percent from September. October house sales there were down 4.8 percent from the same month last year, the lowest year-to-year decline in the region.
In Westchester, 299 single-family houses were sold in October, according to preliminary data from the state Realtors group. That was a 6.9 percent drop from September and 16.5 percent decrease from October 2007. Over a two-year period, October house sales in the county dropped 20.7 percent.
October house sales numbers elsewhere in the region were:
— Orange County, 162 houses sold, down 3.6 percent from September and 31.9 percent year-to-year.
— Putnam County, 57 sold, down 14.9 percent from September and 5 percent from October 2007.
— Rockland County, 101 sold, down 18.5 percent from September and 15.1 percent year-to-year.
— Ulster County, 92 sold, down 3.2 percent from September and 9.8 percent from October 2007.
Statewide, 7,085 single-family houses were sold in October, down 11.8 percent from the same month last year and a 9.5 percent drop from October 2006.
Westchester in October again led the state in median sale price at $575,000. That price was down 9.4 percent from September and 14 percent from October last year, when an equal number of homes in the county sold above and below $668,750. The October median sale price here was down 6.5 percent from October 2006.
The Rockland County housing market in October again trailed Westchester with the state”™s second-highest median sale price at $460,000. That was up 2.2 percent from September and down 6.1 percent from October 2007.
October median sale prices for other counties in the region were:
— Dutchess, $275,000, down 7.5 percent from September and 20.3 percent from October 2007.
— Orange, $271,500, down 1.5 percent from September and 15.2 percent year-to-year.
— Putnam, $335,000, down 1.5 percent from September and 6.9 percent from October 2007.
— Ulster, $224,250, down 6.6 percent from September and 7 percent year-to-year.
The statewide median sale price in October was $210,000, unchanged from September. It was down 1.8 percent from October 2007.
