Croton on Hudson Real Estate Market, 1st Quarter 2009

Croton on Hudson is a small village just north of Ossining located in the neighboring town of Cortlandt. I spent a great deal of my youth there. As a scout I camped at Croton Point Park many times, and my high school youth group was based at Holy Name of Mary on Grand Street. It has a charming downtown, multiple riverfront parks, and lots of classic pre-war architecture. My brother and his family have lived there since the early 80’s. Here’s the weirdest thing about Croton. There are (count ’em) THREE attorneys there that I actually like and refer. If you knew me, you’d agree that is quite the anomaly.

Comparing the first quarter of 2009 to the same time period in 2008 tells a great deal about how the market has changed for single family home sales in the past year. All data is from the Westchester-Putnam MLS; I cut the time off at March 23 because today is March 23. I limited the search to the Croton-Harmon school district, so there are some data with a Croton mailing address that is not included.

The transaction number is way down from the prior year. And things were pretty consistent until 2009 in Croton. Consider 2006 and 2007:

What can we learn from this? Transaction totals have always been in the double figures, for one. And the median price has been roughly half a million dollar rather consistently. But thus far in 2009, it is out of whack. A few more expensive homes have sold in the district, and the lower priced part of the spectrum is en absentia.

There are 7 homes either under contract or pending sale, which doesn’t bode well for a strong spring either, especially when you consider that a whopping 54 homes are actively for sale. If another 15 or 20 go on the market in the spring (a distinct possibility in the traditional cycle) and only 7 sell in the next 90 days, inventory will be even more out of balance. It will be out of balance if 20 sell, and that won’t happen.

It will take some time for this to even out. And that isn’t good news for anyone except someone planning on buying. Buyers, what few of them are, have their pick this Spring in Croton.

_______________________________________________________________

You can search the MLS like an agent at http://jphilip.listingbook.com.

J. Philip Faranda ranks among New York’s premier short sale REALTORS specializing in short sales in Westchester, Rockland, Putnam & Dutchess Counties. www.NYShortSaleTeam.com. Read Phil’s short sale blog at http://NewYorkShortSaleBlog.wordpress.com.

J. Philip Serves Briarcliff Manor, Ossining, Croton on Hudson, Pleasantville, Sleepy Hollow, White Plains, Yonkers, Peekskill, Cortlandt, Tarrytown, Yorktown, Montrose, Hawthorne, Thornwood, Valhalla, Hartsdale & all of Westchester County, New York.