Second-quarter sales of single-family homes rose nearly 17 percent from a year ago in Westchester County, putting the 2012 housing market on pace for the highest sales volume since the recession in 2008. Owners, though, still delay putting their houses on the market in the shaky economy, according to the Hudson Gateway Multiple Listing Service.
In Putnam County, the 160 single-family house sales that brokers closed in the second quarter was a 31 percent increase from a year ago, the listing service reported.
The median sale price of a single-family home in Westchester was $619,000 in the second quarter, down less than 1 percent from a year ago. In Putnam County, the second-quarter median sale price was $299,500, down about 6 percent from the previous year.
The improvement in year-over-year housing sales extended to condominiums, which were up nearly 13 percent, and cooperatives, which were up 7 percent. Only sales of two- to four-family houses declined, with 84 Westchester properties sold in the second quarter, down nearly 9 percent from last year.
On a seasonally adjusted basis, second-quarter sales of single-family homes were up 6.7 percent from the first quarter this year. Sales of all other housing types tumbled in the second quarter compared with first-quarter activity. Condominium sales dropped most sharply at 9.3 percent.
June ended with 7,081 housing units listed for sale in Westchester by the multiple listing service, a nearly 12 percent decrease from last year.
The second-quarter rise in sales volume accounted for a slight decline in homes being listed. The decline was the result of property owners’ reluctance to jump into the market while economic conditions remain shaky, listing service analysts said in the quarterly report.
