A personal note first, followed by market commentary.

What bothers me the most as a real estate professional? Two things:

1) When I see buyers or sellers choosing to associate themselves with a real estate agent who has little or no experience and/or who fails to adequately represent their client…. and then the buyer/seller continues to work with that agent. I hear stories about this all the time and they usually have a bad ending. Buyers and sellers should thoroughly interview the agents they are considering – this person will represent you in what could be the largest business transaction of your life. Do you really just want to pick that person from their picture on the internet??? Or simply trust a referral from a friend??? Make sure that you “click” with your chosen representative.

2) When a buyer or seller decides to work with a specific company. The real estate business is about the agent that you work with and not the company they work for. Yes, the company provides some basic support services, but the knowledge, experience, negotiating skills, etc. that buyers and sellers depend on are all provided by the agent – the company has nothing to do with that.

One of my goals is to provide the very best customer service. I want (and get!) repeat business from my clients and I want (and get!) their referrals. I see it as my duty to represent clients and help them negotiate the best price and terms that the market will bear.

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My accomplishments in 2011:
- For the second year in a row, I was named a Five Star Real Estate Professional by Westchester Magazine; fewer than 4% of real estate agents were chosen.
- My office was #6 for listings taken and properties sold in the Empire Access Multiple Listing Service – that’s the top 1%!

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2011 was a mixed year for the Westchester real estate market. There were pockets of strength, notably Larchmont, Rye and Scarsdale. Of the areas I cover, Edgemont was the weakest (number of sales down 26%, average selling price down 27%). What is not reflected in the numbers is the amount of activity; I was in more than a dozen bidding wars in 2011, especially early in the year. Even though the actual number of sales was down in most areas, the best homes attracted more than their share of interest, which partly explains why average and median selling prices were up.

2011 Sales By Town

As compared to 2007 (the peak of the market) and three stock market benchmarks, you can clearly see (BELOW) that prices are down quite a bit. Only Larchmont/Mamaroneck and Rye City have higher median selling prices. If you had bought the QQQ at the beginning of 2007 and sold at the end of 2011, you would be up almost 33% but we all know that that came with a tremendous amount of volatility.

While qualifying for a mortgage (or a refinance) can be challenging, interest rates are so low that upper tier buyers are buying. In fact, the $2.5 million - $3.5 million market segment had 18.6% more sales 2011 vs. 2010 (51 vs. 43)!

2011 Median Sale Price

In 2011, almost 21.5% of sales were for properties over $1 million; a historical look at the number of single family sales greater than $1 million:
- 2011: 21.50%
- 2010: 21.08%
- 2009: 17.06%
- 2008: 22.80%
- 2007: 25.30%