According to information provided by the Mid Hudson Multiple Listing Service for the first quarter of 2013, sales of single family homes in Dutchess County increased 18.6% from the same period last year to 332 units. The median sales price, however, decreased 4.8% from the prior year to $228,352 while the average days on the market decreased 6.9% to 162 days. Generally, the market seems to be continuing to improve even though the median price suffered what should prove to be a temporary setback for the quarter. Looking at the one million plus segment for the same period, home sales increased from 3 in 2012 to 5 sales last quarter. The median sale price jumped 9.1% to $1,750,000 while the average days on the market remained about the same at 222 days. Of the 5 sales, the most in the first quarter since 2008, all but one were sold below two million dollars. Here again, the data seems to suggest that this section of the market is also slowly improving.

Closed sales of single family detached homes in Dutchess County through the end of the 3rd quarter of this year increased 2.3% over the same period in 2011 to 1104 units according to data provided by Mid-Hudson Multiple Listing Service. The median price decreased 1.9% from the previous year to $248,750 while the average days on the market increased 4.3% to 147 days. Single family detached listings available for sale at the end of the quarter were down 8% from a year ago to 1971 units. For houses listed at one million dollars and over, there were 15 sales year to date by the end of the 3rd quarter compared with 17 sales last year. The median price of $1,315,000 was 16.5% less than the prior year while the average days on the market increased from 205 to 305 days. There were 117 properties for sale priced at one million or more at the end of the quarter. The overall market appears to be stabilizing and poised for further improvement, however, realistic pricing remains the key issue moving forward.

According to figures recently released by the New York State Association of Realtors, closed sales of existing single-family homes, condos and co-ops through the end of July 2012 show an increase of 6.3% over the same period in 2011. Although the statewide median price dropped slightly (1.8%) from the same period a year ago, total inventory has dropped considerably and is trending toward a more balanced market and eventual price stability.

2012 Half Year Report - The housing market has continued to improve with year-to-date sales up 4.6% to 639 units compared to 611 units one year ago. Continuing the trend, the median selling price dropped 2.8% from the end of June '11 to $245,000 this year and the average days on the market increased from 153 to 157. The inventory of available houses for sale at the beginning of June was down 8.9% from the same time last year to 1976 units. Closed sales in the $1 million plus category increased from 7 to 9 units with the average days on the market increasing slightly from 289 to 291 days. There were 138 properties in this price range for sale at the end of June. The market seems to be slowly improving as pricing continues to adjust to the new reality. Source: Mid Hudson MLS LLC

The single family residential real estate market for Northern Dutchess County showed good improvement for the first quarter of this year. The number of sales increased 8.2% over the first quarter of last year and the median price increased 9.2% from $236,000 to $257,750. The average days on the market for all the sold properties increased, however, from 167 days to 224 days, mostly due to a very slow 4th quarter last year. Hopefully, we are seeing the beginning of a steadily improving market.

In 2011, H.W. Guernsey Realtors was, once again, the market share leader in $1 Million plus sales for Dutchess County. Of the 21 total sales in the county at $1 Million or more, H.W. Guernsey participated in 7 of them. The next closest broker participated in 4 sales. H.W. Guernsey's sales ranged in price from $1,080,000 to $15,000,000 (a record sale price for the county at time of closing).