Hudson Valley House-Buying Spree Ends 2020

HUDSON VALLEY, NY — As the coronavirus surged across the Hudson Valley in the fourth quarter of 2020, the real estate market surged too, according to two reports issued Tuesday.

"The see-saw year, aka 2020, ended on an astonishingly high note for real estate practitioners in the Lower Hudson Valley," said researchers at the Hudson Gateway Association of Realtors.

The surge was directly related to the pandemic, according to both HGAR and the Houlihan Lawrence Westchester Putnam & Dutchess Market Report.

After the outbreak shut down business across the region in the spring, real estate agents expected the rest of the year to be bad too. Wrong.

“The 4th quarter numbers reflect an unprecedented level of activity in the Fall 2020 Market," said Elizabeth Nunan, President and CEO, Houlihan Lawrence. "Many properties were purchased as second homes to be used as a refuge, while the number of primary home purchases rose substantially. The past nine months have demonstrated that many businesses can continue to operate “business as usual” with remote employees; thus, the commute is less vital."

The surge was biggest in northern Westchester — Bedford, Byram Hills, Chappaqua, Katonah-Lewisboro, North Salem and Somers — where home sales were up 41 percent, Nunan said. The biggest hike in median sales price was in Dutchess County, she said.

"There are many buyers as well as renters coming up from NYC, but also local buyers who want to lock in the extraordinarily low interest rates for the next 30 years of owning a home," Gail Fattizzi, president of the Hudson Gateway Association of Realtors, told Patch. SEE: Real Estate Buyers Are Flocking To Lower Hudson Valley: Reports

The third quarter, as it turned out, was only a preview of what was to occur in the last three months of the year, the HGAR staff said.

Not only have houses been snapped up, but house prices have jumped. HGAR reported:

• Westchester County: the median price of a single-family home increase over 12 percent to $735,000, compared to $655,000 for 2019.
• Putnam County: median price increase of 6 percent or $380,000, as compared to $358,000 in 2019.
• Rockland County: The median sales price of $500,000 was an almost 10 percent increase over the 2019 median of $455,000.
• Orange County: The median sales price increased by 19 percent to $330,000 from $277,250 in 2019.