HGAR report: Residential real estate looked good before COVID-19

There were plenty of positive signs showing up in the Westchester County and lower Hudson Valley real estate market before the COVID-19 pandemic hit, according to a new report covering the first quarter of 2020 released by the Hudson Gateway Association of Realtors.

The report used statistics gathered from the OneKey MLS, which was formed in 2018 following the merger of the Hudson Gateway Multiple Listing Service and the Multiple Listing Service of Long Island.

Sales of single-family residential units in Westchester were up during the quarter, despite the increasing influence of COVID-19 as the month of March unfolded. There were 1,055 single family sales this year in Westchester compared with 984 during the comparable period last year.

Sales in Rockland County rose to 452 units compared with 393 units in the first quarter of 2019. In Putnam County, sales were up 8.7% at 224 houses while Sullivan County single-family sales rose 6.1% to 209 units. Orange County sales dropped to 737 sales from 764 sales for the first quarter of 2019.

The median sales price was up for single-family homes in all of those counties. Orange”™s median sales price went up from $250,000 in the first quarter of 2019 to $277,900 in the first quarter of this year.

In Westchester, the median sales price was up 6.7% to $640,000. It rose 2.4% to $335,00 in Putnam, 3.1% to $459,00 in Rockland and 25.8% to $163,500 in Sullivan.

In Putnam, sales of condominiums were up from 24 in 2019 to 33 this year. There were 86 condo sales in Orange, down from 117 a year earlier. The number of units sold also dropped in Westchester, with 233 units changing hands in the first quarter of 2020 compared with 258 units in the first quarter of 2019. The median sales price of Westchester condos was $390,000 in the first quarter of 2020 compared with $360,000 in the same period last year.

Co-op sales declined in Westchester. There were 378 units sold compared with 448 units in the first quarter of 2019. However, the median price of a co-op unit rose from $169,950 in the first quarter of 2019 to $175,500.

In Putnam, two co-ops sold during the first quarter of 2020 compared with no sales in the first quarter of 2019. The median price was $61,000.

In Rockland, there were 23 co-ops sold in the first quarter of 2020 compared with 32 in the same period last year. The median sale price this year was $85,000 compared with $70,000 last year.

Orange saw three co-ops sell, down by one from last year’s four sales. On the other hand, the median sales price was up from $47,500 to $55,000.

There was no co-op activity in Sullivan County again this year.

Multifamily units for two to four families were up in Orange, Rockland and Sullivan counties, while down in Westchester. Westchester saw a drop from 151 units last year to 144 in the first quarter of this year. The median sales price rose from $535,000 to $561,250.

Putnam saw four multifamily dwellings sell, down from the six that sold in the first quarter of 2019. The median sales price also dropped from $316,250 to $300,550.

In Rockland, there were 21 multifamily units sold, one more than last year. The median sale price jumped from $354,500 to $520,000.

Orange saw sales of multi-family units rise from 64 to 67. The median price was up  from $195,500 in the first quarter of 2019 to $220,000 this year.

In Sullivan, 11 multifamily units sold in the first quarter of this year, up from the 8 units  last year. The median price jumped from $80,000 to $130,000.

HGAR said in a statement, “We can only hope the healthy base we experienced at the beginning of the year will facilitate a strong path back to ‘normal’ sooner than later.”