BOSTON—The National Association of Realtors installed John Smaby, a second-generation Realtor from Edina, MN as 2019 president of the National Association of Realtors during the 2018 Realtors Conference & Expo being held here. Smaby was NAR's 2018 president-elect and 2017 first vice president. He has been in the industry for nearly 40 years and is…
Read MoreYONKERS—City officials hope to end more than four decades of frustration and failed attempts to develop the Chicken Island property in Downtown Yonkers. In what city officials termed as a “game changer” for the downtown district, the City of Yonkers announced on Oct. 29 it had signed a letter of intent to sell the six-acre…
Read MoreWASHINGTON—Single female buyers continue to be a powerful force in the market, while low inventory, rising interest rates and increasing home prices are holding back first-time buyers despite notable interest in buying a home. These factoids were part of the National Association of Realtors’ 2018 Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers report released on Oct.…
Read MoreOn Monday, Oct. 29th the Westchester County Board of Legislators finally held a public hearing on the co-op disclosure bill. Realtor members of the Hudson Gateway Association of Realtors spoke in favor of the compromise bill. The bill calls for a 15-day time period in which a board must notify an applicant they received the…
Read MoreRYE BROOK—Houlihan Lawrence released a report on Oct. 18 that examined in depth the impacts of the Great Recession on the housing market in Westchester County, the Hudson Valley and Fairfield County, CT. In the introduction to its overall findings, Houlihan Lawrence described how the Great Recession changed the New York City suburban real estate…
Read MoreWASHINGTON—U.S. existing-home sales declined more than 3% in September after a month of stagnation in August, according to the National Association of Realtors. All four major regions saw no gain in sales activity in September. Existing sales in the Northeast fell nearly 3% in September as compared to September 2017. Total existing-home sales, https://www.nar.realtor/existing-home-sales, which…
Read MoreHARRISON—John Verni and Chris Verni, partners in Verco Properties, recently broke ground on their latest project, the Harrison Playhouse Lofts in Downtown Harrison. “The Verni brothers look forward to jump starting the rebirth of Downtown Harrison as the next great destination in Westchester County,” said John Verni. In attendance were Harrison Mayor Ron Belmont, New…
Read MoreNEW YORK—With a market struggling with low inventory, higher mortgage rates and slower home sales, a packed room of Realtors at the Marriott Marquis hotel in Manhattan collectively sighed relief when NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun said he does not expect a national recession next year or in 2020. In fact, Yun also stated that…
Read MoreSLEEPY HOLLOW—By this time next year, the first tangible signs of what will be a $1-billion redevelopment of the former General Motors minivan assembly plant site here will be clear to see. While infrastructure work and demolition of the massive plant itself have been undertaken since the closure of the General Motors minivan assembly plant…
Read MoreWHITE PLAINS—Home sale prices were up sharply in the third quarter in the four-county market area of the Hudson Gateway Association of Realtors, with the exception of Westchester County where sales prices were relatively flat as compared to a year earlier. Sales volume was off marginally throughout the region, with overall third quarter sales down…
Read MoreELMSFORD—The Westchester County Historical Society announced recently it has published the first comprehensive history of Westchester County in more than 35 years. Written by Field Horne, printed by Rose Press in Mount Vernon, designed by Christina Wong, and edited by Elizabeth G. Fuller, Katherine M. Hite, Patrick Raftery, and Gray Williams, the 257-page publication entitled…
Read MoreWHITE PLAINS—Third quarter real estate sales in the lower Hudson Valley remained robust, although slightly lower than third quarter 2017 sales. While unit sales were generally lower in the Hudson Valley region served by the Hudson Gateway Multiple Listing Service, sale prices remained strong. With the exception of Westchester County, which experienced a one tenth…
Read MoreGOSHEN—The Hudson Valley Economic Development Corp. and the Westchester County Association announced on Oct. 8 the launch of what they term as a “strategic partnership to grow specific industry sectors such as healthcare and real estate, expand on each other’s workforce development initiatives and close the digital divide through programs that promote gigabit-speed broadband connectivity.”…
Read MoreWHITE PLAINS—Standing in front of the White Plains Internal Revenue Service office on East Post Road here, Westchester County Executive George Latimer and Suffolk County Steve Bellone staged a press conference on Oct. 3 to announce their partnership to fight new IRS regulations that would limit the benefits of charitable deductions. In response to the…
Read MoreNEW ROCHELLE—YoungCraft, a locally-based real estate development company, held a groundbreaking ceremony on Oct. 3 at the future site of The Rockwell, a more than 160,000-square-foot mixed-use development at 583 North Ave. here. Robert Young and Phil Craft, principals of YoungCraft, were joined at the project site by New Rochelle Mayor Noam Bramson, City Manager…
Read MoreWHITE PLAINS—The more than $200-million plan by New York City developer Rose Associates to redevelop what has been considered for years an eyesore—the AT&T building in Downtown White Plains—into a mixed-use project that would feature 468 rental apartment units cleared a major hurdle, but with one caveat. The Westchester County Industrial Development Agency granted a…
Read MoreGOSHEN—The Hudson Valley Economic Development Corp. and Hudson Valley Pattern for Progress announced on Sept. 25 they had formed a strategic partnership. Goshen-based HVEDC is the Hudson Valley’s leading economic development agency and Pattern for Progress, based in Newburgh, is the Hudson Valley’s primary public policy and think tank organization. Pattern for Progress is a…
Read MoreNEWBURGH—New York State Homes and Community Renewal Commissioner RuthAnne Visnauskas announced Sept. 25 the opening of a $15-million scattered-site project that renovated 15 abandoned properties to create 45 new affordable apartments in a four-block area of Newburgh’s East End. Called East End Apartments, state and city officials say the development is helping to revitalize the…
Read MoreWASHINGTON—Existing-home sales remained steady in August after four straight months of decline, according to the National Association of Realtors. Sales gains in the Northeast and Midwest canceled out downturns in the South and West. A bright spot for the residential markets was in the Northeast, which saw its August existing-home sales rise 7.6% to an…
Read MoreWHITE PLAINS—Several Realtors testified before the Westchester County Board of Legislators on Sept. 17 in support of the pending Co-Op Disclosure bill that would mandate cooperative boards render a decision in a certain time frame on an application as well as disclose reasons for an applicant’s denial. The testimony given prior to the start of…
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