westchester businesses expect the unexpected in 2021
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By Joe Cesarano | Published on February 12, 2021
– Residential Real Estate –
Continued Strong Demand
When Mary Stetson, broker/founder of Stetson Real Estate, in Mamaroneck, listed a home on Johnson Place in Rye prior to the pandemic, the sellers priced it at $2 million. As the coronavirus escalated locally and demand grew along with it, they decided to increase the price. “We ended up getting $2.1 million, a five percent increase, due to pandemic demand,” says Stetson.
That hasn’t been unusual in Westchester, with many Manhattanites snapping up properties in the suburbs once COVID-19 struck and buyers able to afford more because of lower interest rates. In the third quarter of 2020, 2,167 single-family homes were sold in Westchester County, up from 1,940 in Q3 2019, and the average sale price hit $1,027,010, up from $906,876 the same time the year before, according to a report from Houlihan Lawrence. Stetson found that many gravitated toward Northern Westchester during the early pandemic because prices tend to be lower. But as the year came to a close, interest in towns closer to Manhattan was building. “I think in this next year we’re going to see people gravitate back to Lower Westchester,” she says. “They know jobs are tied to New York City. Even if they don’t have to go in all the time, they have to be within striking distance of it.”
One outgrowth of the coronavirus is that properties offering more social distancing are in greater demand. “Whether it’s a townhouse or a single-family house, [people are] looking for their own front doors,” Stetson says. And, at a time when many are working remotely and children are going to school at the dining-room table, home offices are now a strong selling point. “They want someplace they can shut a door,” she says.
Denise Friend, associate broker and regional manager of Westchester’s Howard Hanna Rand Realty offices, says one challenge in 2020 was low inventory. If the coronavirus vaccines get distributed effectively, however, and people feel more comfortable showing their homes, she anticipates that will change for 2021. “We’re hoping in the early spring we’ll see more sellers comfortable putting properties on the market,” she notes. At press time, she anticipated a large number of closings in January. “That will kick off 2021. Fourth-quarter sales increasing will lead to more closings in January,” says Friend.
Meanwhile, greater adoption of technology is likely to transform the experience of buying a home in Westchester in 2021, say local brokers. Many who had been reluctant tech adopters embraced tools like virtual tours and walk-throughs in 2020. “Finding the property is easy these days,” says Emilce Cacace, a broker at Scarsdale’s Portico Realty Group. What will make the difference going forward, she says, is “How do we hold people’s virtual hands through the whole process, fulfill their expectations, and get them what they need?”