One of the risks a real estate broker like myself incurs when commenting on the market is the perception that we as licensees puff things up to make the climate seem better than it really is. Given that we are entitled to our own opinion but not our own facts, I'll lead with the numbers on Croton's 3rd quarter real estate market.
For the 3rd quarter of 2010, the Croton-Harmon school district had 15 single family home closings at a median sale price of $425,000.
For the 3rd quarter of 2011 which just ended September 30th, Croton had 18 single family home closings at a median sale price of $492,500.
Transaction totals are up, and median sale price has improved by almost 16%. It is an improvement. However, before we all jump for joy, consider that in the 3rd quarter of 2005, Croton had 36 sales with a median price of $600,000. We are a long way from recovered. We can take some measure of encouragement that we are headed in the right direction. This is especially the case when you consider that the housing stimulus closing deadline was over at the end of September 2010.
Looking ahead, Croton has 13 homes under contract or pending sale at a median asking price of $375,000. 54 homes remain active and for sale at a median asking price of $587,450. What this says to me is that the higher cost properties are not selling at the rate that less expensive homes are. While this does not mean that everyone should necessarily lower their price, we should note that the average days on market statistic for the homes currently for sale is 164 days, or 5 1/2 months. 5 months is a long time, especially when you consider that some of these homes are not on the market with their first listing contract.
All real estate is local, and while we are fortunate in Westchester to be relatively insulated from the catastrophic declines in the sunbelt and mid west, we are still a price sensitive market with low consumer confidence. Therefore, some homes will have to reduce their price in order to sell in the next 90 days in Croton. Failing that, inventory will bloat this coming spring and oversupply could supress prices again.
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