J. Philip's Westchester Real Estate Blog: March 2009

I am a proud member of the Villanova class of 1989. Few places can turn a New York-born, Giant and Yankee rooting, Eagle and 76er hating guy like me into a dedicated cheesesteak muncher like that rolling campus on the Main Line. I was on pins and needles yesterday watching that game. It was vintage Wildcat teamwork: no superstar, stingy defense, and smiles at the end.

The best my era's teams did was advance to the final 8 in my junior year. The campus went bananas after they beat Illinois to advance to the Sweet 16. I'll never forget it. They won the whole thing in an upset for the ages in 1985, the year right before I attended. I was a senior in high school here in New York, so I was rooting for St. John's. When I arrived on campus that autumn as a freshman, the place was electric.

If my Facebook page is any indication, my fellow alumni are just as happy as the kids on campus.

White Plains is the county seat of Westchester and is, in many ways, the hub of commerce for the area as well. It is home to the county government offices, numerous malls, the local Westchester Board of REALTORS, and some fantastic food and libation along Mamaroneck Avenue.  You don't go to White Plains to hide- you go there to get things done. It is a great commuting point with appealing neighborhoods and proximity to everything. There are many co ops and condominiums near downtown. The mix works. There is very little not to like about White Plains.

This data is for the city of White Plains only and is taken from the Westchester-Putnam Multiple Listing Service. It compares the sales of single family homes from the first quarter of 2006 , 2007, 2008 and 2009. I cut the data off at March 27 of each year so the numbers would be consistent.

Clearly, White Plains exhibits the "soft landing" people spoke of before the financial crisis hit. The number of transactions did go down from 2007 to 2008 but prices didn't drop very much. Transaction totals stabilized in the face of lower prices in 2009. In short, White Plains was not immune to the downturn but was not as adversely affected as some other parts of the county. This speaks well of White Plains- even though the economy is down, people are still buying there. I just sold a listing in the Battle Hill section this past week.

Don't think for a minute that it isn't still a buyers market in White Plains, however. Inventory is still quite high- 131 active single family homes remain for sale here, and only 21 are under contract with buyers.

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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.

Well cared for colonial on a quiet street and close to everything - shopping, the Hutchinson Parkway and more. Boasts a den, formal dining room, half bath, kitchen and spacious living room on the first floor. Has both a carport and 2 car garage, plus patio in the rear yard, perfect for barbequeing or social time. Aggressively priced, with lots of character - leaded & stained glass windows, nice woodwork and great curb appeal. Click on the photo for more information.

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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.

I am from Ossining. I grew up here and no place is closer to my heart. The village lies on the banks of the Hudson River and is an amalgam of densely populated somewhat urban sections as well as more bucolic subdivisions as you go inland. Ossining is a hilly place, with streams, brooks and a nice mix of pre war homes and newer baby boom era housing.

This data is for the village of Ossining only and is taken from the Westchester-Putnam Multiple Listing Service. It compares the sales of single family homes from the first quarter of 2006 through to the first quarter of 2009. I cut the data off at March 27 of each year so the numbers would be consistent.

There was a downward trend from the high point of 2006 until the wheels came off in 2009. Nothing new here; the pool of borrowers is tiny, prices are down, and the number of sales is down more than 50%. The thing that comes to mind for me is not just the market. There are 9 real estate firms in the 10562 (Ossining) zip code with 80 licensees ostensibly serving the area. There are also more agents from numerous firms in nearby Briarcliff that also service the village which probably doubles the number of agents. That is an awful lot of agents to split up 8 sales. I work all of Westchester and neighboring areas, so my wagon isn't hooked up to one marketplace.

Ossining will certainly bounce back, but  money needs to circulate again for more people to take advantage of the lower prices. There are 62 active listings for single family homes alone in the village, making now an exceptional opportunity to buy.

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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.

Yorktown is a town in northern Westchester County that is very suburban in character. The housing is dominated by post baby boom ranches, splits and raised ranches in quiet subdivisions as well as larger colonials in the newer developments. It is served primarily by the Yorktown and Lakeland school districts, and it has abundant shopping and parks. The area has always been a popular place to land for southern Westchester and Bronx ex-patriots seeking more elbow room and a quieter lifestyle. Downtown Yorktown Heights is located at the intersections of routes 202 and 118 and is home to the Triangle shopping Center, the iconic Friendly's, and plenty of other commerce.

This data is for the Yorktown school district only and is taken from the Westchester-Putnam Multiple Listing Service. It compares the sales of single family homes from the first quarter of 2008 to the first quarter of 2009. I cut the data off at March 27 so the numbers would be consistent.

The numbers are down enormously. The number of sales is down 40%. The average sales price is also down 39%. Yorktown remains the place to go for mid-priced housing for sure, but it appears to be the poster child for the economic downturn. In 2008, the most expensive single family home sold was $2,000,000. In 2009, the high price maxed out at $529,000. When the maximum price one year is exceeded by the average price of the prior year, you know things have changed. Given the commensurate price drops in points of southern Westchester, it may not have been as compelling an option in 2009.

Given it's close proximity to my office, I have sold homes in Yorktown, and the biggest beef homeowners have is with the ever-rising property taxes. Commercial development is limited in Yorktown, and since commercial and business properties often defray residential taxes the powers that be may be looking into ways to attract more development in that sector.

You can't keep a good place down, however, and when the correction is over and the market adjusts new home buyers will return. It is just too nice a place to live for people to stay away.

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.

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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.

Clarktown is a sought-after town in Rockland that comprises New City, Congers and some other small hamlets. I have 2 listings in Congers, which could be considered unusual for a Westchester-based agent. However, my clients understand that I am where the most likely buyer is going to come from. Rockland has always been an attractive alternative for Westchester residents seeking lower prices.

These statistics are taken from the Greater Hudson Valley Multiple Listing Service. Since we still have 9 more days in the first quarter of 2009 I cut off the data at March 22 of each year.

The number of transactions is higher, but the sales prices are down by about $100,000 no matter what metric you use.

The most dramatic price decline is among 4 bedroom homes:

The average sales price for a home a year later is a whopping $125,000 lower. Are there still buyers? Absolutely. But what they are buying, and how much they are willing to pay, are both shrinking. If you are in Congers, New City or anywhere else in Rockland and you want to sell this Spring, this is valuable information.

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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.

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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.

This is inspired by Jack Feldmann's excellent piece on a home inspection he made recently. The posting has photos of some pretty amazing termite mud tubes in a crawlspace. Pretty compelling stuff.

I think most home inspectors are fine but there are still some outfits that issue pretty bad reports- chicken scratch, really.

A few years ago, while on a home inspection in Orange County, about 45 minutes north of my home, I encountered a home inspector who brought with him a laptop, small printer, and digital camera. He was a retired grandfather- no Generation X tekkie. Yet we left the inspection with published reports with color pictures. The deal died because of foundation issues, yet we were at peace with it because there was no argument. The photos were scary.

Westchester County is not Orange County, nor is it Podunk. It is among the nation's most affluent counties and is the first county north of New York City, bordering the Bronx directly to the south. Yet, I know of very few home inspectors here who take a digital camera with them to document findings. In matters that are in dark corners, attics and other hard to see places like crawlspaces, this reduces inspection reports to a matter of taking an inspector at their word.

Photos save time and energy because they remove doubt. As we enter a world where technology is making life move faster and faster, home inspectors who don't use photos to their advantage need to catch up. More agents will use them, and they'll leave the chicken scratch report guys in the dustbin.

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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.

I have a position open for a buyer agent to work with a growing number of buyers in Queens. If you have a license in good standing,  high professional standards and a knack for working with buyers this might be perfect for you. You HAVE to be good at following up, staying with people and getting their questions answered.

Unfortunately this is not for inexperienced licensees, those without a reliable car or anyone who doesn't show homes on weekends. I need an agent who can hit the ground running.

The benefits of associating with my company are numerous-mentorship from me, a constant supply of quality buyer leads, coaching, support, a good split and a positive environment.

Right now I have 12 Queens buyers who are ready to go- pre approved, motivated and eager to find something. More are coming.  I won't hire just anyone- all my agents are very good. I believe quality trumps quantity. If you are interested, call or email me for a confidential interview.

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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.