White Plains – The constricting supply of housing in the lower Hudson region served by the Hudson Gateway Multiple Listing Service, Inc. (HGMLS) has brought about some long-expected price increases in most areas and in most property types. In Westchester, the second quarter median* sale price of a single-family house was $670,000, an increase of $20,000 or 3.1% over last year`s level. The mean* sale price of $900,000 was 7.0% more than last year, indicating that the high-end sector may be reinserting itself into the sales mix. Westchester condominiums and cooperatives also enjoyed median price increases of 5.3% and 3.9% respectively.

Orange County, long characterized by high sales volumes but flat prices, posted a second quarter single-family median price of $235,000, an increase of 5.6% from last year. Rockland County’s median price at $441,387 represented a 2.6% increase, and Putnam County’s median price at $345,000 was a significant 9.9% increase over last year.

Prospective homebuyers were operating in a market that has seen tremendous reductions in the supply of for-sale housing over the past four years. At the end of 2014 there were 12,153 active listings posted with HGMLS in all its service territory and among all of its property types – single-family houses, condominiums, cooperatives, and 2-4 multi-family units.

By the close of the second quarter of 2017 that number has plunged by more than 3,440 units to 8,713 or 28.3% fewer active listings. The double-digit percentage rate of shrinking inventory is continuing as new listings barely make up for high rates of sale.

Realtors participating in HGMLS, a subsidiary of the Hudson Gateway Association of Realtors, Inc., reported a grand total of 4,726 closed residential transactions during the second quarter of 2017, an increase of 4.4% from last year. These sales largely reflect market activity during the winter and early spring months of this year. Westchester, the most populous of the serviced counties, posted 2,642 sales for an increase of just 1.0% over last year. Orange County posted an impressive 1,098 sales an increase of 13.8%, almost all of that in its single-family house sector. While Rockland County had a fair 3.8% increase in single family sales, its best second quarter achievement was in its condominium sector where it posted a 33.6% increase in sales. Putnam County was the only county to report a decrease in single family residential sales (-5.1%) but an increase in residential sales price. Read the complete report here.