 
Westchester house sales and sale prices rose in April from the previous month, though the housing market here remained well below levels from a year ago.
The statewide market for single-family houses posted sales gains for the second consecutive month as first-time buyers drove activity, according to the New York State Association of Realtors (NYSAR).
Statewide sales were up 13.7 percent in April from March, but were still down 17 percent compared to April 2008. The statewide median sale price in April of $185,000 was down 5.1 percent from March and a nearly 12 percent decrease from April 2008.
In Westchester, the 179 closed sales recorded in April amounted to an 8.5 percent increase from March. April sales volume, however, was down 36.1 percent compared to the previous year and was nearly 53 percent lower than two years ago.
The median sale price for a single-family house in Westchester was $570,000 in April, up 12 percent from March though down 10.2 percent from April 2008.
Sales volume rose in April from the previous month throughout the Hudson Valley, though all seven counties in the region showed double-digit drops in sales numbers from a year earlier. The number of houses sold in April by county were: Putnam, 42, up 55.6 percent from March and down 10.6 percent from April 2008; Rockland, 66, up 6.5 percent from March and down 21.4 percent from April 2008; Dutchess, 168, up 44.8 percent from March and down 12 percent from April 2008; Orange, 132, up 12.8 percent from March and down 16.5 percent from April 2008; Ulster, 65, up 6.6 percent from March and down 11 percent from April 2008; Sullivan, 18, up 80 percent from March and down 35.7 percent from April 2008.
Median sales prices in the region in April were: Putnam County, $337,780, up 6.2 percent from March and down 16.6 percent from April 2008; Rockland, $396,250, down 9.3 percent from March and 15.7 percent from April 2008; Dutchess, $261,000, down 2.4 percent from March and 15.8 percent from April 2008; Orange, $280,000, up 8.3 percent from march and down 6.7 percent from April 2008; Ulster, $215,000, up 8.9 percent from March and down 13.3 percent from April 2008; Sullivan, $144,000, up 13.2 percent from March and 16.3 percent from April 2008.
“With the $8,000 federal tax credit, historically low mortgage rates and available inventory, Realtors from across the state are reporting an influx of first-time buyers into the 2009 market,” NYSAR CEO Duncan R. MacKenzie said in his monthly report. “We expect first-time buyers to continue to drive the late spring and summer markets.”
