J. Philip's Westchester Real Estate Blog: New York: Yorktown

Yorktown is a larger town in north Westchester County between Cortlandt and Somers. It is is very suburban in character- think post-war/baby boom subdivisions with ranches, splits and raised ranches and with larger colonials in the newer developments. It is served primarily by the Yorktown and Lakeland school districts, and it has abundant shopping and parks. Yorktown has always been a popular place to land for southern Westchester and Bronx residents who wanted to move north to the "burbs" seeking 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, The Pennysaver of northern Westchester, 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 June of 2010 to June of 2009.

Simply put, Yorktown had a positively enormous June this year, more than doubling last year's transaction total and increasing the median price by almost $20,000. To give you some perspective, at the height of the bubble in June 2005 there were 21 closings. With 22 homes under contract production has far from cooled off. 

To check out the 141 available properties Yorktown has to offer, register yourself for a free Listingbook account. 

• We Are Westchester County, NY Real Estate. Reach Phil at (914) 723-8900.
• J. Philip Faranda, Broker-owner, J. Philip Real Estate, LLC. 2010 Vice President, Westchester-Putnam Multiple Listing Service. 
• I am one of New York's premier short sale REALTORS. 
• J. Philip Serves Briarcliff Manor, Ossining, Croton, the River Towns, Westchester County, and the bedroom counties of New York City.
• Free MLS Search! Register for a Free Listingbook account and search the MLS like an agent. 
• I am hiring agents. 

All content/images, unless noted, are the property of J. Philip Faranda & may not be used without permission

The town of Yorktown is located in northern Westchester County, and is primarily split into the Yorktown and Lakeland school districts, with small areas located in the Croton and Ossining districts. All information is from the Westchester Putnam Multiple Listing Service. 

Yorktown saw an increase in median price for May 2010 compared to May 2009 but the transaction total was smaller. However, the number of homes under contract is very healthy. 

Transaction totals fell from 13 to 8; Median price is up from $385,000 to $436,250; and a whopping 60 homes are under contract for sale at a median asking price of $427,450. That pending sale data is all good news. 

There are 217 homes actively for sale, and there is still plenty of warm weather left for those homes to move. 

• We Are Westchester County, NY Real Estate. Reach Phil at (914) 723-8900.
• J. Philip Faranda, Broker-owner, J. Philip Real Estate, LLC. 2010 Vice President, Westchester-Putnam Multiple Listing Service. 
• I am one of New York's premier short sale REALTORS. 
• J. Philip Serves Briarcliff Manor, Ossining, Croton, the River Towns, Westchester County, and the bedroom counties of New York City.
• Free MLS Search! Register for a Free Listingbook account and search the MLS like an agent. 
• I am hiring agents. 

All content/images, unless noted, are the property of J. Philip Faranda & may not be used without permission

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.

• We Are Westchester County, NY Real Estate. Reach Phil at (914) 723-8900.
• J. Philip Faranda, Broker-owner, J. Philip Real Estate, LLC. 2010 Vice President, Westchester-Putnam Multiple Listing Service. 
• I am one of New York's premier short sale REALTORS. 
• J. Philip Serves Briarcliff Manor, Ossining, Croton, the River Towns, Westchester County, and the bedroom counties of New York City.
• Free MLS Search! Register for a Free Listingbook account and search the MLS like an agent. 
• I am hiring agents. 

All content/images, unless noted, are the property of J. Philip Faranda & may not be used without permission