The Rise and Rise of Catskills Real Estate
Now could be a great time to sell.
This flirtatious weather is about to leave in its wake a steady stream of weekenders, travelers and buyers. We're all dreaming about sunshine, swimming holes and upstate escapes. And we're absolutely gearing up for a big high season here in the Catskills.
Market Status: Seller’s Market
When we say that this high season is a seller’s market, what that means is that sellers aren’t leaving money on the table. As long as buyer demand remains higher than the supply of new listings, the buyer market will continue to drive up the price of appropriately priced listings. This often results in a multiple offer scenario that is beneficial to the seller. This also means your home will likely sell faster.
Co-Primary Home Demand
While Catskills real estate has been steadily on the rise over the past ten years, the state of the market has been rapidly evolving during the turmoil of the past two years. One trend to keep an eye on is the rise in demand for what some are calling the co-primary home market.
Traditionally, you have three types of buyers - primary home (residential), second home (weekenders), and investment (commercial, hospitality). The disruption of the global pandemic has created a potentially new category for co-primary homeowners. In other words, people who essentially have “primary” residences in two locations.
This trend has been largely created by increasingly flexible, pandemic-driven work schedules and office requirements. People who were previously bound to a brick and mortar are now navigating office policies that allow them to work remotely to varying degrees. We’ve seen some clients who need to be in the office only for scheduled meetings, or who have work schedules 3 days/week in person, or who can work remotely indefinitely as long as they are within striking range of the city. We’re also seeing couples and families navigate the primary residence category when one person needs to be in the city for work, and the other is able to work remotely.
Point being, this new category has potentially lasting effects on the Catskills and upstate real estate market, beyond these pandemic years.
This Is Not A Bubble
Real estate professionals and economists are in general agreement that this is not a bubble that will catastrophically pop in the near future. A lot of us expect (and hope for) the current frenzy to subside a bit, and expect there to eventually be some mild downward pressure on prices before they naturally continue to rise. But this coming high season will not be that time.
The fundamentals are in place for this high season to be very strong for sellers.
Bring on the Sunshine!
The high season typically begins in April, as buyers start to anticipate warmer weather, and lasts through mid-October (leaf peeping!). If you are in the market to sell your upstate home, we’d love to chat. Now could be a great time to sell!
