Rockland home sales plunged in 2023. Will lower interest rates loosen the market?
Rockland County home prices hit new highs in 2023 as sales plunged, according to a report by the Hudson Gateway Association of Realtors.
The report showed single-family home sales for 2023 in Rockland fell by 25.7% from 2022, while median prices increased by 3.6% to $660,000.
Home sales in neighboring counties, including Westchester, Putnam, Orange, Sullivan and the Bronx, were all down by double-digits.
“While sales fell sharply, home prices rose throughout the region, driven at least in part by continued strong demand and historically low inventory,” the report said.
In Rockland, end of year single-home inventory was down 44.8% from 2020 to 2023.
The inventory of co-ops for sale plummeted even faster, by 72% from 2022 to 2023.
More: What kind of house will $1M get you in Westchester, Rockland, Putnam? We checked
Interest rates the key
Jennifer Rousset, a realtor at Howard Hanna Rand Realty, based in New City, said many homeowners held off putting their homes on the market amid high mortgage interest rates. She hopes the inventory will grow if interest rates continue to decline in 2024.
In fact, she has already seen an increase in sales since the new year. As of Wednesday, one co-op was sold with 19 sales pending, compared to 16 sales in the first quarter of 2022.
She attributes this to the recent decline in interest rates. Homeowners are more likely to put their homes on the market if they feel they can afford something new.
"Once the rates really started dropping, people is going to want to take advantage of that before anything changes," Rousset said.
Database: Rockland real estate transactions
In the past weeks, average 30-year mortgage rates have dropped more than a full percentage point since rates peaked in October. Three rate cuts were forecast by the Federal Reserve for 2024.
“I think people who are looking to sell are starting to feel more reassured in doing that,” Rousset said. “But until we really have that inventory on hand, we may continue to see a rise in home prices.”
She said a sweet spot in Rockland’s single-home market is between $400,000 and $600,000. About 31% of homes sold last year were in that price range.
The top three towns with the most sales in 2023 were New City (254), Suffern (121) and Nanuet (108), she said.
Westchester and Rockland: Here are the most expensive home sales of 2023
This article originally appeared on Rockland/Westchester Journal News: Rockland County NY home sales fell sharply in 2023 as prices jumped
