Market

I follow both Forbes and AOL Real Estate on Twitter. I have always viewed Forbes as the standard of excellence in financial journalism, but in my view, this morning they got schooled by AOL in responsible reporting. Both linked to recent stories on the real estate market on Twitter this morning, and both could not […]

 Three times in the past two weeks, we have had listings go in bidding wars. Three times in the past two weeks, we have had buyer agents tell me that their buyer client did not believe me that they had competing bids. In each case,  those buyers all lost the house. In my own company, […]

It has been weeks since I last updated this blog, and it isn’t writers block, indifference, or slow news days. I am busy. I don’t mean active, or experiencing the typical cyclical upswing of the spring season. I am busy. Really busy. I started the firm in late 2005, and it took me 9 months […]

The chatter on the Interwebs lately is that a law that has been sacrosanct for generations, the right of a homeowner to deduct their mortgage interest on their income taxes, is now in jeopardy due to the fiscal cliff we collectively face in the wake of the Recession.  What a shame. It is a shame […]

You cannot call a market with so many homes underwater, flat to mildly declining prices and a swollen shadow inventory of distress a recovery. However, with prices no longer falling, transaction totals surging, and inventory declining, we are no longer in the downward spiral that punctuated the crash from 2007-2011. The strong November numbers from […]

The results are in for the month of September for single family home sales in the county and they are mixed. According to the Hudson Gateway MLS data, September 2012 was slightly weaker than the same time period in 2011, but overall 2012 is still well ahead of last year’s pace. Median price is down […]

August of 2012 will be remembered for the completion of the first two thirds of a year which has been the first upward year in sales totals since the boom.  According to the Hudson Gateway Multiple Listing Service statistics for single family home closings in August, we saw the highest sales volume since 2007. Here are the breakdowns for […]

What can you buy in West Harrison for $475,000? One buyer recently closed on a beautiful 3 bedroom 2 bath cape in Silver Lake for $475,000 this past week. The home had great hardwoods, a bright, airy sun porch, a full walkout basement and a garage. It also had a large eat in kitchen, plenty […]

What can you buy for just under $250,000 in Greenburgh? I’m glad you asked. $245,000 buys you a 3 bedroom condo in Granada Crescent in White Plains with 2 full baths, a balcony, and a beautiful swimming pool right in the middle of the complex like the one we just closed on last week. The […]

A buyer I have been working with has told me that the choices in his price range have dried up considerably compared to years past when he was not ready to act. Another agent with whom I am working with on a deal in northern Westchester County has observed that inventory is down. These are […]

In light of yesterday’s revelation of Ossining’s strange May, where median price dropped almost $60,000 but closings more than tripled compared to the prior May, I did a quick survey of other towns to see if the trend was anywhere else in the county. My thought about Ossining was that sales increased because prices dropped. […]

The New Normal continues to evolve in Westchester real estate, as prices and transaction totals go batty in different directions. Ossining’s May results are fine example. According to the Hudson Gateway MLS data for May 2012, Ossining had a spike in closed transactions, but a steep decline in price compared to the same time period […]

Today was one of those non-stop days from 9am until I got home at 9pm, and in retrospect I had damn few of these sorts of days in 2009. “Busy” in real estate is “good.” Not busy, as you might imagine, is the precursor to “not in real estate anymore.” I won’t bore you with […]

May continued the strong spring in the Westchester real estate market with the highest total of closings in 5 years. Overall, the data for single family home sales from the Hudson Gateway (formerly Westchester-Putnam) MLS saw not only an improvement in total closings from last year, but also an increase in median price. The improvement did […]

The cyclical nature of the real estate market has always seen a peak in activity in the spring months. We are busy. This is causing a misconception that the market is “turning around” or that we are finally witnessing a recovery. I see many colleagues and sellers alike announcing that the market is back or […]

Some of my colleagues are funny bunch. They decry a Zillow Zestimate for being inaccurate. They shake their heads when an agent licensed in Illinois gives real estate advice in Trulia Voices to a consumer in Florida, where the laws are different. They shake their head disapprovingly if you mistakenly mark a home as having […]

According to Empire Access MLS data, the number of Westchester County single family home closings for February 2012 was up by three deals over that of February 2011. After a weak start in January, this is welcome news. Not all the news is rosy, however, as median price is still down significantly over the number […]

$500,000 can buy a great end unit 3 bedroom, 2.5 bath condo in the Scarborough Glen complex like the one we just closed on. As described in the MLS: Neat and clean Carlisle end unit with gleaming hardwoods and a beautiful rear view! Boasts a gas fireplace, sliders to the rear deck overlooking woods and […]

With the problems facing the real estate and mortgage industries, I look to the Oval Office to be the catalyst in the recovery of the nation going forward. I am not referring to President Bush, nor am I referring to the hypothetical Presidents McCain, Obama, or Clinton. The president who will make the biggest difference […]