Anyone familiar with the Westchester housing market

I have limited info, but the info I have is that prices are declining. I know a house bought for $2.2 million is on the market (without a buyer yet) for $1.6 million.

bronxboy, prices are declining, but mostly, like the Hamptons, the market has been dead. as robot says, things just sit.

btw, my Manhattan broker also does westchester (lives in Dobbs Ferry and expanded to cover both markets a number of years ago). if you're interested, let me know. we're planning to launch a westchester real estate blog in a few months.

Thanks, Robot. I've looked at a few things and, incredibly, sellers are asking 20 to 25 percent higher than their purchase price in 2006 (peak in Westchester). What's up with that?

Thanks, AR. Keep me posted about the Westchester blog. There doesn't seem to be a Streeteasy for Westchester.

There are plenty of sellers that do not need to sell and put a price that they are "willing" to sell. There are others who just don't get the market. They are looking at last years prices and adding 5-10%.

Where I live in Brooklyn, I see many sellers putting run down properties at -3% of last year's fully renovated prices. They are dreaming.....

I have followed the market in Rye for some time and I can say pretty confidently that prices have not come down. I have a broker sending me listings in our price range and see the occassional price drop, but basically inventory just seems to be piling up with little movement. It is definitely a much less transparent market than NYC due to lack of data, blogs, etc.

That's useful, OTNYC. From what I've seen I think sellers are figuring in "renovations" or "improvements" they made to their house in the past couple of years and adding that on to the asking price. They don't understand that those improvements have been totally negated by the current real estate crisis.

Bronxboy--it's not all sellers I have my house on the market in an excellent school district in Westchester -I've priced it about 10% below the 2006 peak--no action whatsoever--and that goes for all houses up here, regardless of price. Now, maybe 10% is not enough, but it allow for negotiation so that it should close at about 20% below 2006 peak--.

That makes sense, dmf. I've checked on Property Shark on some properties I'm interested to see what was paid for them and when and I've found the opposite: sellers are adding 15 to 25 percent on what they paid in and around 2006. When I see that, I obviously would never make a bid above what was paid at the peak (2006) and even making a bid at what the seller paid in 2006 seems, the way it is currently priced, to be a major lowball offer. Thus the standstill.

"It is definitely a much less transparent market than NYC due to lack of data, blogs, etc."

You want a blog? Here you go:

http://www.westchesterrealestateblog.com/

Alpine - thanks for sharing! Just checked it out briefly. Seems a little confusing to navigate but better than nothing. Doesn't stand up to sites like SE, UD, Curbed, MillerSamuel, and on, and on...

OTNYC - i'll do my best.