Westchester View

Ok – So I admit it, I have been so busy revamping parts of my website and redoing my database that I am shockingly late on market reports for the area for Q2.  Being true to my pathetically geeky self -  I don’t just pull the stats from the MLS because I feel that  local differences are very important in this market – so all the data is actually culled by me personally…Think of it as knitting your own sweater by hand vs. buying it off  the rack and hopefully you will consider the numbers worth the wait.

First up are Scarsdale houses.  In general, Scarsdale real estate is very resilient. The Scarsdale single-family home market is no exception.   When I refer to Scarsdale in the SF home market, I am directly referring to the town (municipality) of Scarsdale which includes homes only within the Scarsdale schools.   The Scarsdale PO which includes areas such as Edgemont, and parts of Yonkers and Eastchester are a market unto themselves.

A Scarsdale house has done very well over the past 2 years.  Median price was $1,113,000 in Q2 of 2009 at the height of the bear market and has risen steadily through 2010 and 2011 to  $1,295,000 and $1, 468,000 respectively.  That’s a nice 13% increase over Q2 2010 – not bad for a big bad bear market!

Sales volume has taken a similar path with volume rising steadily – totally shaking off the ending of the tax credit.  going from 36 total sales in Q2 2009, to 44 sales in 2010 and 61 sales in 2011.  Once again – not bad for a bear market.  Scarsdale houses have pretty much shrugged off the bear.

If you look at inventory the market indicates about a six month inventory which is neither bull nor bear.  Nevertheless all other indicators are actually up – not down or flat.

With almost all sings bullish – this is a strong market and buyers have to be realistic if they want to buy into this market.

©2011 – Ruthmarie G. Hicks – http://thewestchesterview.com  – All rights reserved.

The Scarsdale market began its correction towards the end of 2007.  Scarsdale homes  went down substantially in value through 2008.  In spite of the financial meltdown at the end of 2008, the Scarsdale market has actually been firming up over the past year.  Although this has not been smooth ride, there are signs that the market is stabilizing – or at least depreciating at a slower rate.   In many ways the Q4 data reflects the Q2 data where year over year home values had started to nudge up.  In Q3 many of these gains were erased, but they were back in the 4th quarter.

There are several issues that could derail this trend.  Subsidies  for mortgages will be ending putting pressure on interest rates.  Further, Scarsdale is not immune to the shadow inventory of foreclosures that have yet to hit the market.  the high-end will probably not be spared a share of short sales and foreclosures.

Scarsdale NY Cooperatives:

Cooperative sales prices remained stable from the previous year with the average sales price of $251,000  for both years.  Sales volume was impressive when compared to the doldrums of the post-crash 2008 – up 72% over the previous year.   The swollen inventories have decreased and there is only a 4.9 month inventory currently on the market.  This is consistent with stable prices.
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