Kim Arenas’ listing on Old Post Road closed last week. The sale price was $3,000,000.
By Robin Jovanovich
If you ask a local realtor how business is going, with mortgage rates edging up close to 7 percent and inventory down to its lowest level since 1987, you’re likely to hear buyers are circling and potential sellers are hesitant to list their homes. Sellers suspect “the moment” has passed and that the frenzied bidding and unbelievable cash offers that occurred until mid-year are unlikely to return soon. Many have decided it may be better to stay in their home and hold on to their low-interest mortgage, at least until spring.
“This summer and early fall we have been bombarded with articles describing the real estate market as ‘normalizing’, ‘shifting’ and/or ‘stabilizing’,” said Pati Holmes, Managing Broker of Julia B Fee Sotheby’s. “At our recent office meeting we discussed the fact that our markets are anything but normal. Our local Rye/Harrison sales and contracts have dropped, and our phones aren’t pinging as they were in the spring of 2021 and 2022.”
There are only 24 active listings in the Rye City School District, which, according to Holmes, is less than half of the active inventory that we had in 2020. Harrison and Purchase are experiencing the same supply issue with a total of 52 homes on the market.
Susanna Cronin, brokerage manager of Rye’s Houlihan Lawrence office, described the inventory as desperately low. Case in point, in 2019, in pre-Covid times, we had 89 active listings. The days on the market for YTD sold homes is 37 versus 82 days in 2019. Therefore, it is tough for buyers to find their home and it bears noting that despite the interest rates, buyers are still there.
Cronin predicts that prices will rise moderately, though not at the same rate as the last two years.
Kim Arenas, who heads up a team of realtors at Compass, remains the most optimistic. “Our local real estate market is outperforming national headlines. Prices have remained strong because buyers continue to move out of New York City and many buyers in our market have access to favorable private banking options or are offering cash to close. We are still seeing multiple offers on well- priced homes.”
She added, “Our team has been offering equity updates so homeowners, who don’t want to wait until spring, can make informed decisions based on the current value of their home.”
This week, Pati Holmes asked the first two agents who walked into the office what they thought of current market conditions. Liz Bradley, who works with a lot of ex-pats replied, “The international buyers have been touring properties; the exchange rate, however, has stalled some of my British clients. I’m just glad that they are back in Rye because they truly make our community special.” Laura DeVita said, “The demand is there. Buyers are window-shopping because there is nothing to purchase.”
