New Yorkers are fueling a boom in home sales and out-of-town rental business after the coronavirus pandemic caused them to rethink its appeal and many professionals are now able to work remotely.
As COVID-19 gripped the metropolitan area in March, Manhattan’s wealthier neighborhoods emptied and many fled to take refuge in their upstate or Long Island vacation homes.
But even as the city begins to recover, real estate brokers and agents have described a scorching market in the Hamptons and quaint northern towns with many New York home hunters wanting to get away from the hustle and bustle. and restlessness.
According to a July Elliman report, house prices in the Hamptons skyrocketed in the second quarter due to strong demand from city dwellers.
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Median selling prices in the Hamptons soared for the second quarter compared to the same period last year after New Yorkers rushed to buy real estate amid the pandemic
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The median selling price of a home soared to $ 1,080,000 from $ 850,000 in the same period last year, an increase of 27.1%.
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The Hamptons have long been a popular vacation home destination for locals. Pictured: Gray Gardens House in East Hampton
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The median selling price skyrocketed to $ 1,080,000 from $ 850,000 in the same period last year, representing a 27.1% increase – the highest in 13 years.
The average sale price, meanwhile, rose to $ 2.09 million, jumping 21.1%.
Appraiser Jonathan Miller said New York Post residents rushed to lock rental homes out of town for the summer, with an anonymous tenant spending $ 2 million to secure a Bridgehampton mansion from March to Labor Day.
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“There’s kind of a herd mentality,” Miller said. “And when rentals weren’t available, sales were the second best thing.
Steven Domber, president of Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Hudson Valley Properties, said there has been a surge in sales from people in Manhattan.
“First, it’s the cabin fever, which wants to get out of an apartment and have a piece of land if, God forbid, there is a lockdown again,” he said.
As for residents who have chosen to survive the pandemic in the city, many now view the city as less hospitable after spending months locked in their cramped apartments.
Among them are Anil and Joyce Lilly who have just bought a house an hour north of the Hudson Valley after going through the worst of confinement in their Bronx apartment.
“We need more elbow room,” said Lilly, explaining their move to Washingtonville, New York.
“Because we’ve been locked in the apartment for three months, three solid months, I feel like I’m out of jail and I want to get as far away as possible.
Susan Cohen rented a house in Rhinebeck with her husband after taking refuge in their apartment on the Upper East Side.
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Joyce Lilly, her granddaughter and her husband, Anil, and dog Max at their new home in Washingtonville, New York
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Reports have shown that a large percentage of the city’s wealthiest residents have fled to escape the lockdown in the suburbs or elsewhere in their vacation homes.
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“We just believe that the city will not be the city we have lived in,” she said.
“For six weeks in our two-bedroom apartment, everything we talked about was vaccine-free, we will never go on the metro again, we would hesitate to take the bus back, we will not go to the movies. we’re not going to the theater… So what do we have for the next two years in Manhattan? And we said, “Why are we living here? ”
The Catskill Mountains and the bucolic expanses of the valley beyond the city’s northern suburbs are long-standing getaways for city dwellers.
But agents say the sales and rental activity is way above normal. Domber sales were up nearly a third year-over-year in June.
Builder Chuck Petersheim said he took eight orders in a month, compared to the usual month and a half.
New York City is not, however, likely to widen anytime soon. The wave upstate is more like a net in a city of 8.3 million people.
With new homes in the area ranging from under $ 200,000 to over $ 1 million, they are an escape hatch many cannot afford.
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Joyce and Anil Lilly’s 14th floor apartment overlooks other buildings. They bought a house an hour’s drive north of town amid the coronavirus pandemic
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County-level home sales figures for May and June still show a decline from a year ago, but agents say those figures reflect delays of one to three months between accepted offers and closings.
Agents describe recent weeks of bidding wars over homes that languished in the market and new listings being bought up quickly by cash buyers.
Real estate agent John Murphy said some homes are selling for $ 100,000 or more above asking prices.
“I think it was the event that got people out of the fence,” said broker Gary DiMauro. “I think we also have people who were considering buying a first or second home here to pull the trigger. “
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