Market Continues To Be Very Busy By Mark Pruner
October Mid-Month Update We h a v e s o l d 5 2 h o m e s through October 16, 2020. Our 10year average for the whole month of September is only 49 houses. So, we have already sold more in half a month than we normally sale in the whole month of October. We also have 178 contracts so once again we have a good chance of having over 100 sales for the month and have record sales for any October. If you add the 173 contracts that we have signed now to our 577 sales, we have had in the first nine months you come up with 747 sales for the year. This would be our highest number of sales in the 21st century. What’s even more amazing is that the 4th quarter generally is only 21% of our sales. It will be much more this year. When you look at our sales and contracts for the last three months by week, the week ly transactions zig-zag, but even the low points are at a higher level than we saw in the first half of the year.
Activity Varies by Neighborhood
have bigger lots in the pandemic year of 2020, you are doing better. If you have less acreage per lot, the demand has not increased much this year.
Backcountry One of our hottest areas has been backcountry where sales are up 74% for the year. Our contracts are up an amazing 140% this year. We have sold 68 houses and have 24 under contract. While this is a remarkable turnaround this year in many ways, all this gain has just gotten backcountry back to even. When you look at the inventory of 83 houses compared to the sales of 68 houses you come up with 11.0 months of supply. The second highest for any neighborhood. Add in the 24 contracts and things look a little better with 9.5 months of supply which is down by 14 months of supply from last year. This increase in backcountry sales actually started in 2019 when
When you look at the neighborhoods, certain areas and numbers jump out. Backcountry and mid-country are doing very well this year, while Byram, Pemberwick, Banksville and North Mianus are not doing much better and in some statistical categories are actually doing worse. The one factor that ties all this together is acreage. If you have bigger lots in the pandemic year of 2020, you are doing better. If you have less acreage per lot, the demand has not increased much this year.
Total 2020 Greenwich House Sales and Contracts by Week Our totals are all looking good with our average and median sales prices up 9.0% and 12.5% respectively compared to yearend 2019. When you look just at 116 September sales, our average and median prices are up even more as you would expect in an accelerating market. On the inventory side, we are down at just about every price level. Our prices are up and so are backcountry sales for 2019 were up our sales and contracts. 30% compared 2018 (which tells S e p t e m b e r 2 0 2 0 Y T D you just how bad things had gotten Neighborhood Report in backcountry by 2018). The other Looking at just these numbers big change is where the sales and you would think that everything, contracts are in backcountry. In townwide is rosy. If, however, short, they are everywhere, which y o u l o o k a t t h e i n d i v i d u a l is a change from prior years. neighborhoods in Greenwich, In 2018 and before, the further you see a more nuanced stories. you went out in backcountry S o m e n e i g h b o r h o o d s a r e the harder it was to sell. Now, down in some categories and backcountr y is backcountr y. some neighborhoods are doing Sales are spread throughout the remarkably well compared to last 4 acre zone and there is even a year, but they still have a ways to concentration along the north go. border as folks from Westchester want to escape the harsh impact W h e n y o u l o o k a t t h e of the $10,000 SALT cap on taxes, neighborhoods, certain areas and but still want to be close to their numbers jump out. Backcountry friends in Armonk and Bedford. and mid-country are doing very well this year, while Byram, Mid-Country The area that has done the best Pemberwick, Banksville and in 2020 is mid-country or South North Mianus are not doing much of the Parkway as the Greenwich better and in some statistical MLS calls it. There sales are up categories are actually doing worse. The one factor that ties 60% less than backcountry’s 74% all this together is acreage. If you increase, but contracts in mid-
country are up an incredible 292% to 35 contracts compared to only 12 contracts in 2019. We also have 8.9 months of supply, the type of number you used to see some years for Riverside. Total sales in mid-country are $553 million or up $221 million from 2019. A lso, i n m id-cou ntr y t he average sales price is up $137,045 while the average sales price in backcountry is down this year. Neither of these numbers are particularly indicative of what individual house prices are doing. They indicate more higher-end houses are selling in mid-country a nd more house s b elow t he backcountry average north of the Merritt. The changes in the mix of what is sell are causing these numbers to jump around. For a better indication of how individual house values are doing, look at the price/sf and also the ratio of this year’s sales prices to the 2015 assessment values. These number are less effected by what price points are selling. When you
do that, you see that both these numbers are actually down a little bit. What we are seeing are lots of motivated sellers meeting the bids of even more motivated buyers. Once this group of sellers who have been waiting to sell is used up, then you will see more bidding wars and prices going up. Of course, this assumes that a couple of trillion dollars of new government debt and continuing high unemployment don’t lead to a recession next year. So far average and median prices are moving up. In September, both the average and median sales prices were up compared to those numbers for the whole year of 2020.
in NYC with some vary restless kids who are buying up houses left and right in these neighborhoods. Old Greenwich has 3.4 months of supply which is the very definition of combat buying. If you are buyer, you need to be all cash or have a mortgage application that is underwritten pre-approved, because you are not going to be the only people interested in the houses that are properly priced. In Riverside, it’s not tooth and claw, but it is still hot with only 4.7 months of supply, so be prepared. Cos Cob is actually at 6.7 months of supply, but this is down from 12.8 months of supply at this time last year; 2019 was not a good year R iverside , Cos Cob & Old for Cos Cob, but 2020 is. Greenwich Glenville These three neighborhoods Glenville has been much like in the southeast part of town Cos Cob and has done better have traditionally been our family than its southerly neighbors, neighborhoods and as such they Pemberwick and Byram. Glenville have done very well this year. has an inventory of 16 houses We have lots of families that have and has already sold 22 houses been cooped in small apartments with another 10 under contract.
This equates to 6.5 months of supply for sold houses and drops to 5.3 houses when you add in the contracts. Glenville also has the greatest increase in sales price/sf at 11.1%. We are seeing some real property value increases in this area. You wouldn’t know this however if you looked at the average sales price which is down 19.6%, This is the kind of jumps that you see where you have less than two dozen sales and the loss of a couple of high-end sales while also have a couple of more sales under the average. So, all the Glenvillians should focus on price/sf and ignore the averages. Pemberwick & Byram The market is not bad in Pemberwick and Byram, it is just didn’t get any hotter this year. The irritating thing about these two areas for us Realtors is that people who move in really like it and tend to stay here so from year to year we don’t have a lot to sell. Right now, we have 2 houses on the market in Pemberwick and 10 houses on the market in Byram. With 4 sales in Pemberwick we are looking at 4.5 months of supply, which is just the same as we had last year. It’s still hot, it just didn’t get hotter. Part of this may be that buyers who are f leeing New York City are looking at smaller lots and options throughout Westchester and Fairfield Counties. This can not be said of buyers looking for 2 and 4-acre lots, as many towns don’t have large lot zones. Byram has had 13 sales this year which equates to 6.9 months of supply, essentially the same as last year’s 6.8 months of supply. Both the average price/sf and the sales price to assessment ratio are up slightly in Byram. Summary Our market took off in June and has risen to levels of demand hardly ever rarely seen in the last 40 years. We are quickly working our way through our shadow inventory (a term I never understood, but Halloween is this month, and I’ve always wanted to use it). Once most of the folks that have been waiting to move up, move out or downsize have done so, we are going to see an even tighter market. Right now, we really need inventory to meet our demand; not something you normally say in October. If you do list now, however, trying the premium price route may well not be effective. You’ll get showings but if you do get offers, they may not be what you want. On the flipside, if you price your house to this market, you have a very good chance of having a contract before year-end even with the holidays coming up. Ma rk P r u n e r i s a Rea l to r with Berkshire Hathaway in their Greenwich office. He can be reached at 203-969-7900 or mark@bhhsne. com