Here are some sales stats that I took from the MLS for White Plains.  I  included the first five months of the year and compared pricing to last year’s numbers.

Prices were either flat or slightly higher than the year before. 
The average price of a coop was ~ $214,000, up 5.3% over the same period in 2007
The average price of a condo was  ~$482,000 up 11.6% over last year
The average price of a single family home was ~$744,500 flat over last year (less than 1%.)

The inventory shows that buyers are gaining the upper hand with six months or more of inventory on the market in all sectors with single family homes showing the highest inventory of all and the smallest volume of sales over the first five months of the year.  Sales volume is down, but the inventory has not soared in response, revealing that sellers are not desperate. Volume is down considerably over last year, which is also good for buyers.

This is a market where buyers have an advantage that they haven’t had in a long time.  I would note that this is not what one blogger called a “fire sale.”  It is a market where a win-win transactions take place and no one feels robbed. 

The market in White Plains has shown remarkable resilience throughout the housing slump.  I see a lot of buyers sitting on the fence waiting to “steal” a house.  The response on the part of sellers who have received a series of low-ball offers has been to simply yank the property off the market.  I’m telling buyers that they need to have a long –term outlook and if they are looking to make a killing, to stop trying to do so.  You can’t time markets in that way and there may well be no killing to make.  White Plains is a resilient market for  many reasons, the main one being that it offers what many people want.:  Lower taxes relative to the rest of Westchester, an easy commute to Manhattan, easy access to shopping, entertainment and fine dining.  When many people want the same thing, it is unlikely that the deal of the century is in the offing.  Work with the market and remember that interest rates are near all time lows. 

It’s easy to underestimate what  higher interest rates do to affordability because everyone’s eye is always focused on the sticker price  However  on a hypothetical purchase of a $400,000 with a 20% down payment, a 1% increase in mortgage rates would  be like adding over $31,000 to the cost of the home as far as monthly payments are concerned. Since traditionally interest rates have hovered closer to 7-7.5% a 1-1.5% hike in interest rates is not an unlikely scenario.