2011: Sales, Foreclosures and a $4.3 Million Deal

Another year has come to an end, and the real estate market for 2011 is in the books. Here's a look at the local market's numbers for the previous 12 months.

Although many people may believe our market is on life support, the numbers show a somewhat different picture. We're not out of the woods yet, nor is the market on the rise—but despite the large drop in prices over the past five years, there continues to be a significant level of activity keeping the Nyack-Piermont market going. 

There were 1,148 single family homes sold in Rockland during 2011. That is only around four percent less than the total for 2010 (1,196 homes sold), and only 2.7 percent less than the total for 2009 (1,180 homes sold in 2009). Granted, the region remains way off the peak numbers from 2005 when it saw 1,794 homes sold—but that was a different time, and we can all agree that those days are long gone. 

Although the sales volume for single family homes was respectable, the numbers for condo sales were not as healthy. The county had 366 condo sales in 2011—that's a 13 percent drop from 2010.  What is interesting, however, is that 83 of these sales were cash deals; that means 22 percent of condo sales were purchased without mortgages. 

The nuts and bolts:

• It was a year that had more cash buyers than last year: 172 cash sales in 2011 (147 cash sales in 2010).  

• It was a year that had more short sales than last year: 70 Short Sales in 2011 (only 20 short sales in 2010).

• And it was a year that had many more foreclosures than the year before: 71 foreclosures/bank owned properties sold in 2011 (only 43 sold in 2010). 
  

• The number of FHA loans went down: 148 homes sold in 2011 with FHA mortgages versus 181 homes with FHA loans in 2010. 
  

• The highest price paid for a home: $4,350,000 -23 Ludlow Lane in Palisades. This home also took the prize for home with largest property size (7 acres), home with most bedrooms (9) and home with highest taxes ($55,000)

• Largest home sold: 401 North Broadway in Upper Nyack. This grand Tudor estate boasted over 6500 Square feet of living space and sold for $1,400,000.

• Oldest Home Sold in 2011 – 263-years-old. 352 Piermont Avenue in Piermont, built in 1749. This Dutch Colonial sold for $439,000.

• Lowest price paid for a home: $80,000 - 4 Hemlock Lane in Suffern. A one bedroom ranch in fair condition that backed up to state parkland.

• Fastest sale: One day—there were 11 homes that sold in just one day.

• Highest price paid for a rental: $5,000 per month to rent the Arts and Crafts contemporary home at 163 Tweed Boulevard in Piermont.

• Largest commercial deal: Walgreens property, $3.2 million. Nyack 59 LLC purchased the old Hilltop Restaurant property (for $1.9 million) along with the old Moger's location (for $1.3 million) to form the property for the coming Walgreens. It may have sold for much more, but it's not evident on the tax records. (If anyone has a more accurate sale price on this, please write.)

• Highest price paid for a Condo/Townhouse: $1,520,000 - 404 Harbor Cove in Piermont, a luxurious penthouse with riverviews and over 2,600-square-feet.

Now, the price breakdown of the 1,148 single family home sales:

Sale Price                        Number of Sales

>$4,000,000                             1

$3,000,000-$4,000,000              1

$2,000,000-$3,000,000              1

$1,000,000-$2,000,000              13

$900,000 - $1,000,000               10

$800,000-$900,000                    21

$700,000 -$800,000                   39

$600,000 - $700,000                  63

$500,000 - $600,000                  147

$400,000 - $500,000                  260

$300,000 - $400,000                  362

$200,000 - $300,000                  153

$100,000 - $200,000                  69

< $100,000                                7

                                     ________________

                             Total   = 1148 homes sold *

You can see that 80 percent of the market falls between $200,000 and $600,000, with the sweet spot being the mid $300,000 range. 

*These sales only represent those transactions reported to the multiple listing system. This does not include private sales or bank/county auctions. 

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That about wraps up my year end review of the local real estate market.  I would like to remind readers that this article is by no means an exhaustive study of the market—I just wanted to point out some statistics to help give folks an idea of where our market currently is, where it has been and where it might be going.

Thank you all for reading this weekly column—it is a wonderful challenge trying to come up with something creative each week about the local market, and it certainly keeps me on my toes. 

I hope that you find this column informaive, educational and entertaining. And if you have any ideas or comments that would help improve this column, please feel free to share your thoughts. 

I wish you all a very happy new year, and I look forward to keeping this going in 2012.

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