Wednesday, April 25, 2012

SPRING AWAKENING IN HUDSON VALLEY REAL ESTATE MARKET


The real estate market is awakening in the Hudson Valley from New York to Albany. With the strong real estate market in Manhattan and surrounding areas, the rural enclaves in the Hudson Valley are seeing the most action in 3 years. During the month of March we closed on 3 properties in northern Dutchess in the Towns of Pine Plains and Stanford and ranging in asking price from $135,000-$450,000.

Good news from the Capital District: Preliminary figures for March show that home sales are continuing to rise in the Capital Region. In 2012, completed sales are up 11 percent from 2011, and pending sales are up 30 percent!


The National Association of Realtors says we’re seeing the continuation of an uneven but higher sales pattern. “The spring home buying season looks bright because of an elevated level of contract offers so far this year.” “If activity is sustained near present levels, existing-home sales will see their best performance in five years. Based on all of the factors in the current market, that’s what we’re expecting with sales rising 7 to 10 percent in 2012.”





ST. PATRICK'S DAY 2012

My last post was Thanksgiving, but I am resolve to publish weekly as we follow Hudson Valley Real Estate, with particular reference to Columbia, Dutchess and Greene Counties. Elizabeth White our Pine Plains (Dutchess County) salesperson closed on one of David Birch's listings. It was a great deal - a lakefront cottage (year around) on Lake Road in the Town of Pine Plains. If you haven't been to Pine Plains you should visit. 90 minutes from New York City with a special exhibit at the Museum of Natural History. Following today's trends it was listed at $149,000 and sold at $117,500.

An interesting aspect of this sale was that it got held up by a lab result showing a high coliform reading. Actually high coliform readings, indicating the presence of bacteria are not unusual, particularly where a house hasn't been occupied for some time or the water hasn't been in use regularly. The well was shocked with chlorine, which is routine procedure cost between $50 and $150. In this case, however, it cost the seller $1,000, because nobody could find the well, even with a metal detector. They had to hire a backhoe and dig up the front lawn, which accounted for the high price.

In Greene County, we got a great listing of a property on the Hudson River with 7 acres and an old cottage in very good conditions

In Columbia County we just listed a beautiful home of almost 5000 sqft with three living spaces in the Town of Canaan. The home comes with lake rights to Queechy Lake and is in the most protected high end area in Northern Columbia County only minutes from Tanglewood and Jiminy Peak.

For more information contact Barns Farms Realty, LLC at 8003988802 or call my cell 5189287239


David Birch, Principal Broker and Attorney