This is what is happening in Ulster County The Second Home Market Starts To Boom Could The Activity Start To Move Everywhere? By Chris Rowley We are being inundated here with people coming up from New York City, New Jersey, even Long Island, all coming to purchase homes, says the realtor. Where? Theyre looking everywhere in Ulster County, from Phoenicia to Woodstock, Saugerties, Stone Ridge, High Falls, Accord. And whats driving this? Interest rates are low and there are things going on in the economy in the city, like people downsizing their apartments, which are leaving them with lots of money. So says Diane Silverberg, associate broker at Westwood Metes & Bounds in Marbletown. And shes not the only broker to see this boom. Mary Collins, another well-known name in Marbletown real estate, says, While the banks are still conservative in their lending, were seeing lots of people. And the search for that special second home is spreading out; I think its going all the way down the Rondout Valley, even to Sullivan County. Collins notes that there is serious interest in the other direction, too. Dont forget Kingston, thats showing big time interest for second home purchases, she adds. Mitch Rappaport, general manager and partner at Win Morrison Realty in Kingston, confirms that the Kingston market is heating up. Not just for the second homebuyers, though. Were seeing lots of commuters, he observed. While Kingston is much stronger than weve seen in the past, we have people commuting from Woodstock, even Phoenicia. Once youre on the bus in Kingston, youre one hour and fifty minutes from the Port Authority in New York City. It can be hard to catch a seat on those buses now in the morning there are so many commuters. And it makes sense when you consider how long a commute from New Jersey or Long Island to the city can take. Id much rather spend an hour on a train or bus, reading or sleeping, than sitting behind the wheel on the L.I.E. Rappaport also notes, Theres a pattern weve seen over and over again — thats people taking their first steps into home ownership by buying a property up here as a second home. Diane Silverberg adds, Also seeing a lot of thirty-somethings, younger people investing in a second home. A lot of them have little children and theyre looking for a whole different environment from an apartment in the city. Looking farther south, what about Wawarsing, or over the ridge in Shawangunk and Crawford? It appears to be much quieter in this sector. Im not personally seeing any moves there in our area, notes Paddy Pizappi of R.J.Smith Realty. Up towards New Paltz, the Gardiner area, that attracts people looking for the artistic community feeling. But Crawford doesnt seem to be on the second home buyers radar at this point. Gail Vesely at Lucille Hand in Wawarsing simply says she is looking forward to spring at this point. Not seeing second home buyers looking at houses here at this point, she points out. Were looking to spring and warmer temperatures to bring out the buyers; I expect theres a lot of cabin fever building up out there. Diane Silverberg thinks that, as yet, Wawarsing isnt on the radar for a lot of second home buyers. She makes a trenchant point about what second home buyers want, other than privacy — great views and a water feature. Cragsmoor... some people do like it, but its kind of out of the way for the second home buyers, a little too rural, she notes. They dont want to be high up on a mountain. They want to be able to go shopping. They want to live in the forest and still be seven hot minutes from Emmanuels Market in Stone Ridge.
Posted on: Sat, 22 Mar 2014 20:13:59 +0000
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