The number of single family sales in Westchester County during October 2010 was down 17% compared to 2009. As I’ve discussed before, the federal tax credit incentivized buyers to close by September 30, so this was not a huge surprise.

Notice that the number of expired listings (homes that failed to sell during the time they were listed for sale) jumped almost 30% county-wide; Edgemont, Harrison, Larchmont/Mamaroneck and White Plains all experienced more than a 30% increase in the number of expired listings. Some of those sellers will not come back on the market, though many will.

Though this could hold down future price appreciation, the longer-term view is that this is a great time to buy real estate (as detailed in last month’s blog post). Even famed hedge fund manager John Paulson recently said:

“If you don’t own a home, buy one. If you own one home, buy another one. And if you own two homes, buy a third and lend your relatives the money to buy one.”

This is the same guy that made billions shorting subprime mortgages - he now sees a buying opportunity in real estate.

It is very interesting to see at which prices those purchases took place.

Notice that homes priced $1 - $1.5 million, $2 - $2.5 million and $3+ million experienced jumps in activity. The rich are buying, setting themselves up for long term gains and locking in low mortgage rates.