Westchester View

The river towns comprise the towns/villages in Westchester that are located along the Hudson River.  This blog covers the lower Westchester region primarily in the town of Greenburgh.  Sleepy Hollow is included since it shares a school district with Tarrytown.   Initially I ran these statistics on Tarrytown and Sleepy Hollow, but the sales volume was too low to create reliable statistics.

In general, prices in the river towns such as Tarrytown NY showed some signs of stabilization in the river towns. Certainly the area has been badly beaten up over the past few years, so it was good to see a slowdown in declining prices.

Cooperatives:

The pricing for cooperatives was dicey because during the 4th quarter there were practically no 2BR sales.  This skewed the price point dramatically  downwards.  Although the number indicates a decline of over 34% from the previous year, this market is nowhere near that unstable. Because  of the unusual sales pattern decent sales figures were almost impossible to come by.  However the increase in sales volume of 120% indicates a recovering market.  The 6 month inventory reflects a slowly declining market.  So the numbers indicate a level or slightly declining market creating  some good news for buyers and sellers a like.

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Over the past couple of years, I’ve written several blogs about local businesses.  One of my favorite haunts has been Coffee Labs of Tarrytown NY.  Coffee Labs was established in  2002 and for seven years has roasted and served wonderful coffee drinks and freshly roasted coffee to brew at home.  Coffee Labs was named for the owner’s chocolate Labrador Retrievers. During tht time, Mike and Alicia have established Coffee Labs as a  eco-friendly and  pet-friendly coffee shop.  Since they don’t prepare food on-site, they had an arrangement with the health department that allowed patrons to bring their dogs into the shop.  The dogs had to be properly leashed and be well-behaved.  I even wrote a blog about how Jade and I often spent mornings at Coffee Labs while I completed correspondence and some work realted activities – including market reports and blog articles.

But it only takes one complaint to ruin something that has worked well for years.  Apparently one person complained to the health department and that has put the entire pet-friendly nature of the coffee shop “on hold.”  The coffee shop is applying for a variance so that the patrons can bring their pets back.  But positive public opinion on this matter can only be helpful.   So I ask all pet-owners everywhere to feel free to comment on this blog and add your support by joining the discussion on Facebook.  As one dog-owner and patron said to me last evening – “If you don’t like the fact that dogs area allowed – go somewhere else! There are plenty of coffee shops in Westchester if you don’t like dogs.”

© 2010 Ruthmarie G. Hicks  – http://thewestchesterview.com. All rights reserved.

Happy New Year Everyone…

Westchester is one of those places where there is a New Years celebration to fit any mood.  To prove the point, during the course of the day and evening I decided to keep a photo journal of sorts of my New Year’s Eve.  I pulled my favorites for posting.  For those who prefer a more contemplative mood, there was plenty to do and see in lower Westchester.  You could walk the trails, take a drive, wonder around the towns and villages. For those who prefer to party – downtown White Plains had its annual ball drop and New Year’s party.  My personal preference leans towards the more quite and reflective celebration.  But that didn’t stop me from attending the annual ball drop and fire works in downtown White Plains.  Unfortunately, my camera didn’t catch the fireworks – let’s just say my camera picked the wrong time to need a change of batteries.  Too bad too, because the show lit up the sky to the point where it was almost like daylight for a moment. Hopefully, you will find a picture to suit your mood….

© 2010 – Ruthmarie G. Hicks – http://thewestchesterview.com.  All rights reserved.

Autumn in lower Westchester NY is a very colorful event.

There is something about the color of the leaves and how it lights up the sky that I find very compelling.  Forget leaf peeping in Vermont – our season peaks later, but the foliage is just as amazing.  At this time of year, people flock to parks in Westchester NY for the foliage and crisp weather.

This week had been particularly stressful – so Friday afternoon I escaped to the Rockefeller Preserve in Sleepy Hollow to regenerate.  Among the many things to do in Westchester, this is among my favorite places to decompress and get back in touch with what it is all about.  Although the leaves were more than half gone, the color of the sky and the sunlight caused the remaining leaves light up the sky with a full fall fire.  Jade and Tundra – my faithful Huskies accompanied me and enjoyed the blustery cold air.  We also ran into a friend from my brokerage – Monique another avid walker, arrived just as I was leaving.

Here are a couple of the photos I snapped along the way.    As a nature Preserve, you get to see the beauty of nature’s wild side.

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This is the first time I’m including several “River Towns” of lower Westchseter in one report.   The reason for this is that because of low sales volume in each individual village, it is difficult to nail down market trends.  The small numbers produce wild gyrations that are often the result of one or two sales at the high or low end of the spectrum.   Including villages that have similar price ranges, commutes and tax structures in one report creates a  more accurate picture of the area.

The River Towns included in these stats are in the lower portion of “Area 3″,  including Hastings-on-Hudson, Dobbs Ferry, Ardsley, Irvington and Tarrytown (which are all part of the town of Greenburgh.) Also included is Sleepy Hollow – which shares a school system with Tarrytown.  Sleepy Hollow is located in the town of Mt. Pleasant.

Cooperatives:

In the second quarter  of 2009 13 cooperative units sold – down 50% from the previous year.  Prices remained firm and were even up nearly 5% over the previous year.  Difficulty in securing  a loan may be the primary reason for the  drop in volume as consumer desire for entry level housing is returning.   It is still a buyer’s market with a little over 11 months of inventory on the market.
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Coffee Labs of Tarrytown NY -  A place to enjoy a great cup of coffee – with your best canine friend!

I confess that I have a coffee habit.  It’s easy to point fingers at my 1/4 Spanish/Cuban heritage – but let’s face it – I’m addicted.  This is particularly true of really fine coffee.  And Coffee Labs offers some of the best blends there are.  Once you’ve tried it, there really is no going back.

Sometimes  I go to Coffee Labs in the morning with Jade – my mellow Siberian Husky.  For those of you who have read the antics of my two White Siberian Huskies,  you know that I hav two females named Jade and Tundra.  Tundra is my wild child and Jade is as relaxed and mellow as Tundra is exuberant.  So Jade gets to accompany me to the coffee shop where I get a great cup of coffee, pull up a table and get to work researching the market and catching up with correspondence.  It’s  my way of getting out of the office and enjoy a change of pace – while still being able to get work done.  There are quite a few regular morning patrons at Coffee Labs.  Many sit just like me – working away at their laptops sharing the bandwidth.  Julie Annello is one a customer who I took note of because she didn’t have a laptop. Instead, she had her sketch book.  For several days Julie tried  to get a nice sketch of Jade, but somehow – it never quite happened…until last Wednesday… It really captures the quiet calm of Jade and her retiring, gentle personality. Julie gave me her sketch which I scanned into my computer and here it is….direct from Coffee Labs…Jade in repose while her “Mom” is working on market stats.

© 2009 Ruthmarie G. Hicks – All rights reserved.

Yes, this report is very late…I’m including it in order for readers to have a complete picture of this market as we move through the year.
Tarrytown and Sleepy Hollow housing stats are giving us many mixed signals.  Pricing appears to have stabilized, but  inventories remain high given the low rate of sales – which will continue to put pricing under pressure.

Cooperatives:

Coops showed a pricing increase over the previous year by roughly 6%.  The number of units sold in both years was quite small, so these statistics need to be taken with a grain of salt.  The current inventory reveals a 9 month supply of coops currently on the market – which is actually a good deal less than other parts of the county. The average sales price for a coop in Tarrytown/Sleepy Hollow was $146,000 for the first quarter.

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Tarrytown and Sleepy Hollow have been in the midst of a buyer’s market for some time. This has been particularly true of the single-family home market in the area. The higher tax rates that some of the river towns deal with put this particular market into bearish mode rather early in the correction when compared to other areas of Westchester.

One of the symptoms of a buyer’s market is low volume. Volume was way down on the cooperative market. So much so that there weren’t enough sales to run pricing statistics with any accuracy – which is why they are omitted. Condo prices and volume were down significantly when compared to the previous year. But single family homes that have been really beaten down in the last few quarters – had a volume consistent with 2007 levels – significantly down from the boom era, but not the grim dip seen in other sectors. It might be an early indication that that particular sector is starting to stabilize. Of course it is way too soon to say anything definitive. Market bottoms are always judged with 20/20 hindsight!

Cooperatives:

There were only two sales for the 4th quarter – far too few to draw any meaningful conclusions on – except that this is a bear market for coops. Having said that, sales are low throughout the county and coops are a very small part of this particular market. Yes, its a buyers market, but with only 7 units for sale in a down market, how many sales could one expect?
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Bark and Meow of Tarrytown is one of my favorite haunts for pets. It has everything you could possibly imagine for the upscale New York canine or feline in your life. My own dogs, Jade, Tundra and Buddy sport bandannas and collars from Bark and Meow and are the better looking for it! Today – the owner – Laura Haupt outdid herself with “street art.” Using sidewalk chalk – she created her own version of street art for this special day NY style!  Many of the offerings in the store are very New York, including subway line sweatshirts.  There is plenty to see and enjoy in that store.   Even if you aren’t in the mood to buy, you’ll want to stop by and meet the store’s mascots Juno and Satchi. Juno, the Korean Jindo is the official welcoming committee for humans and canines alike.

Happy Holidays to one and all!

Often when people think of Westchester, they think of the glitz and the glamour of New York City. And why not?  NYC is a mere 20 miles away and about 30 minutes by train.  Certainly downtown White Plains and New Rochelle and building up that “city image.” But  Westchester has a “softer side” with many small villages dotting the landscape.  Here are some photos of Christmas lights that I have taken over the past few days.  Nothing to glitzy or crazy – just a nice seasonal display…courtesy of White Plains, Scarsdale, Larchmont, and Tarrytown.

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