SULLIVAN COUNTY — The Hudson Gateway Association of Realtors (HGAR) recently released its 2022 fourth quarter and year-end results for the Hudson Valley and each of the six counties had their own story to tell.

“When focusing solely on the fourth quarter residential sales numbers, there were significant decreases in the number of residential sales in all counties when comparing the 2022 fourth quarter to the 2021 fourth quarter sales,” the report reads.

HGAR covers a six-county region – Sullivan, Orange, Putnam, Rockland, Westchester and The Bronx.

In Sullivan

Sullivan County saw a nearly 16 percent drop in single-family home sales – from 1333 in 2021 to 1123 in 2022.

But prices continued to increase, with the median price increasing from $245,000 to $265,000, year-over-year.

This 8.2 percent increase in the median price – where half of the listed prices are higher and the other half are lower than the median – was comparable to Orange County, where median prices rose 9 percent.

Inventory continues to be an achilles heal for prospective home buyers in Sullivan County, as inventory continues its downward trend.

Increase rates for residential mortgages also has had a cooling effect on home sales, according to experts.

“Lack of inventory continues to be a problem with no meaningful resolution on the near horizon,” HGAR officials said. “With the Fed tightening monetary policy it is expected that mortgage rates will stabilize in 2023. The real estate market in the New York City area and the lower Hudson River Valley, is expected to continue to see lower sales and tight inventory in the short term, however, most analysts believe market conditions will begin to improve in the second and third quarters of 2023.”

In 2019, Sullivan County’s year-end inventory stood at 711, in 2020 it was 459, in 2021 it was 390 and last year, 2022, saw just 312 single-family homes left on the market at year end, a 20 percent decrease from the year before.

The mean sale price of a single-family home in Sullivan County, which is the average of all sales, rose nearly 9 percent, hitting an all-time high of $313,556 for the year. In 2019, the mean sale price in Sullivan County was $178,127.

However, fourth quarter numbers released by HGAR show prices starting to decrease, with the median price dropping to $259,900 and the average sale price dropping to $298,020.

More Data

Notably, Westchester County, with the highest prices in the region, had the smallest percentage increase in the median single-family home price for the year at 4.5% ($815,000 as compared to $780,000 in 2021). The single-family median sales price of $660,000 for the third quarter of 2022 in Rockland County was 14.2% higher than 2021.

Putnam County saw its single-family median price rise 11.3% to $489,500 (from $440,000 in 2021), yet Putnam County had the largest percentage decrease (-21.9%) in single-family home sales year-over-year (1,074 units vs. 1,375 in 2021). 

Orange County saw a 9% increase in its single-family median price to $400,000 (from $367,000 in 2021), but saw a -15.6% decrease in sales (3,754 units vs. 4,450 in 2021).

Single-family homes were selling below list price in all counties north of Westchester and Rockland, and they averaged a higher number of days on the market than fourth quarter 2021 in most counties, except for Westchester and Sullivan counties. 

In fact, National Association of Realtors Chief Economist Lawrence Yun recently noted that the real estate investment component of GDP has fallen for six straight months. 

“There are approximately two months of lag time between mortgage rates and home sales. With mortgage rates falling throughout December, home-buying activity should inevitably rebound in the coming months and help economic growth,” Yun predicted.