Sales of single-family homes rose in four of six counties in the lower Hudson Valley between July and August, with Westchester County leading the region”™s summer real estate market with the only double-digit increase.
Yet house sales in all lower Hudson Valley counties showed double-digit drops in August compared with that month in the boom housing market two years ago, according to the New York State Association of Realtors (NYSAR).
The median sales price for an existing single-family home held steady in Westchester County from July to August, while dipping in Orange, Putnam and Ulster counties and rising in Dutchess and Rockland counties.
Statewide, sales of existing single-family homes rose 8 percent in August compared with July, surpassing the 10,000-sale mark. August sales in the state, however, dropped 7.6 percent from 2006 and 14.3 percent from 2005.
The statewide median sales price of $255,000 in August was up 2.1 from July but down 1.9 percent from August 2006 and down 3.4 percent from August 2005.
In Westchester, the median sales price of an existing single-family home was unchanged from July to August at $730,000. That figure was unchanged too from August 2005. It was a 2.6 percent decrease from August 2006, when the median sales price in the county reached $749,500.
In the region, August median sales prices were as follows: Dutchess County, $350,000, up 8.6 percent from July; Orange County, $326,000, down 0.5 percent; Putnam County, $407,500, down 7.4 percent; Rockland County, $531,500, up 2.5 percent, Ulster County, $259,500, down 5.6 percent.
While only Westchester showed no decrease from the high-priced housing market of August 2005, Putnam was the only lower Hudson Valley county that had a double-digit price drop for the two-year period. There the August median price was down 12.6 percent from the August 2005 figure of $466,300.
NYSAR reported 682 single-family homes sold in Westchester County in August, up 12.9 percent from July. August sales were up 4.6 percent from the previous year but down 19 percent from August 2005, when 842 homes were sold.
Rockland County, where 166 homes were sold in August, had the largest month-to-month decrease in the region, at 10.8 percent. August home sales there held steady from August 2006 but dropped 23.9 percent from August 2005.
Other August home sales reported were: Dutchess County, 269 homes, up 5.9 percent from July and down 26.9 percent from August 2005; Orange County, 290 homes, up 6.2 percent from July and down 30.1 percent from 2005; Putnam County, 82 homes sold, down 3.5 percent from July and 42.3 percent from August 2005; Ulster County, 146 homes, up 8.1 percent from July and down 12.6 percent from August 2005.
August statistics indicate the state housing market “continues to do well,” NYSAR chief executive officer Charles M. Staro said. “August is typically a strong month, and with more than 10,000 sales closed, our statewide market, while slowing from record highs, is bucking the national trend. We continue to project solid sales totals through the end of 2007.”
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