Greenwich home sales show momentum

There were 337 single-family home sales through July, enough to outdo the first seven months of 2009 by 102 percent. Through June of this year, there were 273 sales, more than double 2009's figures, according to data from one of the Real Estate firms of Greenwich that.

The Spring market is historically better. Spring seems to have come in June, with 76 home sales, versus 49 in May and 40 in April of this year. Last year, sales peaked in July, with 56 transactions.

Greenwich sales figures are tracking along with 2008 numbers, with 324 sales through July of that year, but not touching the highs of 2006 and 2007, when there were 461 and 488 home sales through July, respectively. Last year there were 167 sales through July.

One area where sales did not increase last month is in the $400,000 to $600,000 range. While that price range was the only one to see an increase through July of last year, this year there was a decrease of 14 percent, with 19 sales through last month versus 22 over the same period in 2009. The average price in that range remained at around $501,000.

The median sales price also continued to rise last month, to about $1.7 million from about $1.6 million in July 2009, a 6 percent increase. That's also in increase from about $1.6 million in the first half of this year.

In one high-end range -- homes priced between $4 million and $5 million -- sales continued to grow, with 18 sales through July versus seven during the same time last year. However, the average price slipped from $4.5 million to $4.4 million.

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Greenwich Condominium Properties Marketing Data - June 2010

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New York State second quarter home sales jump 71 percent from first quarter

Albany – July 22, 2010 – The New York state housing market continued its strong start to 2010 as second quarter sales, helped by a record-setting June sales total, jumped more than 71 percent from the first quarter, according to preliminary single-family sales data accumulated by the New York State Association of REALTORS. The 2010 second quarter statewide median sales price grew by nearly 12 percent compared to the 2009 second quarter, despite falling by 5 percent from the first quarter of 2010.
“The New York State housing market has clearly benefited from the federal homebuyer tax credit,” said Duncan R. MacKenzie, NYSAR chief executive officer. “The proof is in the 24,327 sales that closed in the 2010 second quarter and especially in the 11,230 new homeowners in June.”
“The federal tax credit and historically low mortgage rates created great opportunities for buyers in the first half of 2010 and they responded,” said MacKenzie. “While we did expect the number of June sales to increase significantly as buyers met the original closing deadline, we did not expect to break the June monthly sales record set in 2005.”
“With the extension of the tax credit closing deadline to September 30, tax credit driven sales will continue to buoy sales totals throughout the typically active summer market,” MacKenzie added, noting that the bulk of those sales are likely reflected in the June data.
New York REALTORS sold 24,327 existing single-family homes in New York State during the 2010 second quarter, an increase of 71.3 percent from the 2010 first quarter. The sales total represents a 30.9-percent increase compared to the 2009 second quarter. The June 2010 sales total of 11,230 was up 66.2 percent from the May 2010 total of 6,758 and 46.8 percent from June 2009.
The 2010 second quarter statewide median sales price of $204,450 represents an increase of 11.7 percent from a year ago and a 5.4-percent decrease from the 2010 first quarter. The June 2010 median sales price of $220,750 represents an increase of 19.3 percent compared to the June 2009 median and a 17.6-percent increase from the May 2010 median.
The New York State Association of REALTORS is a not-for-profit trade organization representing more than 54,000 of New York state’s real estate professionals. The term REALTOR is a registered trademark, which identifies real estate professionals who subscribe to a strict code of ethics as members of the National Association of REALTORS. These REALTORS are also members of the New York State Association of REALTORS as well as their local board or association of REALTORS.

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Manhattan apartment sales rebound, rents up, vacancies down report

New York City's housing market continued its rebound in the second quarter of 2010 as the total amount of residential real estate sales increased 72 percent by dollar amount compared to the second quarter of 2009, according to a new report by ResidentialNYC.com, the public real estate listings site of Real Estate Board of New York. The value of all deals increased to $7.6 billion last quarter, up from $4.4 billion in the second quarter of 2009 (note: correction appended). The REBNY report also found that the average sales price for all homes citywide -- including co-ops, condos, and one-to-three family units -- increased to $728,000. Citywide, apartment sales volume increased year-over-year 65 percent. In addition, Manhattan apartment sales volume increased 82 percent, while in Brooklyn it increased 62 percent. Recent market reports from the city's major residential brokerages similarly declared that home sales volume has increased citywide, but found that prices have remained flat. "The trend that emerged in previous quarters is enduring, and we are optimistic that this indicates a return to a healthy market," said Steven Spinola, president of REBNY "Although these developments are promising, the resurgence is dependent upon continued economic recovery.
The Manhattan residential rental market also showed modest improvement over the last month, with inventory declining and rents climbing in both month-over-month and year-over-year comparisons, according to the Real Estate Group NY's July report, which measures rental activity from June 15 to July 15 (see full report below). The largest year-over-year rent hikes were seen amongst non-doorman studios, which averaged $2,077 per month, up 6.06 percent from July 2009. Meanwhile, prices for studios with doormen, averaging $2,367 per month, rose by just 1.29 percent -- the smallest increase of the apartment types. Neighborhoods still offering deals even as the overall market rebounds include the Lower East Side, where non-doorman, two-bedroom units saw rents fall 9.52 percent in July to $2,770 per month and Harlem, where rents for two-bedroom units with doormen declined by 9.69 percent to $2,345 per month -- the lowest price since TREGNY began tracking data for the neighborhood in 2008. The data reflects trends from roughly 10,000 listings in TREGNY's proprietary database in the borough, all priced under $10,000 per month. Overall, vacancies declined by 0.78 percent month-over-month in Manhattan, which TREGNY attributed to recent college graduates entering the rental market and to would-be intra-borough renters who are now staying in Manhattan as landlord incentives in the outer boroughs have decreased. In a recent second-quarter rental report, Prudential Douglas Elliman found that although rental activity had returned to pre-recession levels, average rental prices were relatively flat in Manhattan, declining 3.3 percent on a year-over-year basis but increasing 12.3 percent on a per-square-foot basis quarter-over-quarter. TRD