Anthony Cutugno, the lead specialist of luxury properties at Houlihan Lawrence globally writes in the Houlihan Lawrence Blog and noted the following sales statistics in Westchester County.
“There’s no denying that 2009 has been a challenging year in real estate especially for luxury properties. Many luxury properties – defined as properties selling for $2.5Million or more – languished on the market with few showings to prospective buyers. Regionally, sales were dramatically down vs. 2008 but recently we’ve seen renewed interest in many high-end properties. In fact, a number of top-tier properties have either sold or gone into contract since September. While the record luxury sales seen in 2005- 2007 are not likely to return soon, this recent activity points towards a more stable luxury marketplace for 1st Quarter 2010.”
•77 Properties sold throughout Westchester, Putnam and Dutchess Counties for $2.5 Million or more, a 47% decrease vs. 2008 unit sales.
•The highest reported sales price was for a newly constructed estate in Purchase, which sold for $9.2 million.
•Southern Westchester markets were most popular among luxury buyers.
Rye Reigns… With 18 sales for the year, Rye ranks #1 in Westchester County luxury sales. Always a favorite community among luxury buyers, Rye’s combination of a vibrant town center, well-established neighborhoods, Long Island Sound shoreline and close proximity to Manhattan have been particularly alluring this year. Additional top luxury markets in Westchester County included Bedford (7 sales), Bronxville (6 sales), Larchmont/Mamaroneck (6 sales), Purchase (6 sales ) and Armonk (5 sales).”