New York Housing Markets 'Achieved Touchdown'

If information from realtors is any indication, there are some changes in the New York housing market. "There are signs that the roaring real estate market is slowing. That doesn’t necessarily mean prices are dropping. It just means that selling your home is a little more tricky and could take longer. Linda Bonarelli, president-elect of the Long Island Board of Realtors (said), 'Your best opportunity is within your first 30 days of the listing to get your price. And if you're overpriced, you’re missing the buyer for your house. You’re missing the entire market,' Bonarelli said." "'On Long Island in this current market, it takes four to five months’ marketing time to sell a house,' Bonarelli said." "The froth is dissipating in the Lower Hudson Valley's housing market. 'In terms of the high-flying housing market of the past five years, we have probably already achieved touchdown on the runway to a soft and uneventful landing,' the MLS stated in its report." "The Westchester median price of $652,250 was up 6.1 percent compared to the fourth quarter of 2004." If you read through the entire 4th quarter, 2005 report, no comparison is made to the 3rd quarter. So I looked it up. "Notwithstanding the third quarter’s slower pace of sales and the slight bulking of inventory, prices increased in all categories. The median sale price of a single family house in Westchester reached $711,700." From the 4th quarter report: "The cooling in the pace of sales reflected itself in the accumulation of inventory that has become more pronounced since 2003. The year-end inventories of 4,776 units in Westchester County and 821 units in Putnam County both were about 21% higher than at the end of 2004. The condominium sector posted a very large 55% increase in inventory from 397 units in 2004 to 617 units at the end of 2005. Some of the bulking up may be attributable to an influx of newly constructed luxury condominiums, particularly in White Plains and the surrounding region." "Robert and Mary Conway left Manhattan 2 1/2 years ago to start a family. They bought a new house on 5 acres near the New Croton Reservoir in Yorktown, and later had their first baby. But the rural lifestyle left Mary Conway feeling more isolated than she had expected, she said. They put their house on the market in the fall for $1.6 million and began looking for communities with more bustle." "Buyers were slow in coming, she said. 'We could barely get people to look at the house,' Conway said. They decided to take it off the market just before the holidays 'and kind of pretend that fall never happened.' Then last month, one of the few people who stopped by to see the place put in an offer. It was less than the asking price, 'but we were definitely willing to talk about it,' said Conway." And a reader found another source on the Hamptons. "So while the bubble is popping, it seems lots of property is still selling. There is no longer a frenzy to buy, but demand does exist; It's just more discriminating. Those properties that languish on the market for six months or so without an offer, are taking upwards of a year to make it to the closing table. Despite what many brokers may claim, if there are no offers on a property within six months, it is axiomatic that it is priced above the market; after all, the market is always simply what people are willing to pay, not what it is 'worth.'" "In the Hamptons, the up to $750,000 market is the new entry level for home buying. Even local landscapers who are not yet legal can find that kind of money."