Summer is upon us and the Real Estate Market for Pawling and the area has been a bit disappointing. Overall sales are down about 6% in comparison to last year. The fact that we had a rough winter, a slow warmup, and snow on the ground until the middle of March did not help matters. We have seen a large number of homes come on the market this Spring. I think the reason behind that is, many sellers have been waiting for and hearing from the media that there would be an improvement in market conditions. Spring has always been the best time sell, but as you all know it’s all about where the house is located too. Some areas are just going to do better than others. In looking at the statistics the slowdown in activity did not have a negative impact on prices.

We do see lots of reasons for optimism for Dutchess homeowners. Although sales activity was down slightly, we think that there may be some price appreciation by the end of the year. Prices have been steady now for about 2 years, and secondary indicators do seem to signal we’re moving into more of a seller’s market. For example days on market fell by 11.7% from the first quarter last year. This tells us that homes are selling a bit more quickly and closer to the asking price. It might take a while longer, but we believe that the Dutchess market is moving toward some meaningful appreciation by 2015.

I thought it might be interesting to look a little larger picture other than just Pawling. Here are a few statistics for all of Dutchess County. The numbers below back up our overall point of view.

Single Family Homes

Current Quarter                                   Prior Year Quater

Q1- 2014                                                 Q1- 2013

Total Closed Sales                                                                  314                                                           334

Average Selling Price                                                        $280,918                                                $268,432

Average Days On Market                                                     188                                                          213

Price Per Square Foot                                                           134                                                          132

Here are some statistics from Westchester Putnam MLS regarding the number of homes currently on the market in Pawling in a given price range, and the number of solds in the last 6 months as of 7/25/14

$200,000  to $300,000          31 Active on the market and 11 Sold

$300,000  to $400,000         29 Active on the market and  5 Sold

$400,000  to $500,000          16 Active on the market and  1 Sold

$500,000  to $600,000          5 Active on the market and  0 Sold

$600,000  to $1,000,000       24 Active on the market and 1 Sold

That’s it for now; I hope all of you have a great summer and best of luck with all your Real Estate Endeavors!! I will touch base again with you all later in the year.

Todd Kessman

Berkshire Hathaway Hudson Valley Properties

14C East Main Street