Cautious optimism as real estate market begins to move

It feels like there’s some new juice flowing through the real estate market. Last month, Stony Batter Farm in Cornwall was sold after about five years on the market (listed first with Klemm Real Estate and then with Litchfield Hills Sotheby’s International Realty).Described as a “gentleman’s farm,” Stony Batter has a large main house, a guest cottage built as a tenant farmer’s home, more than 100 acres with ponds and a remote setting. It sold for $2.325 million — not quite the asking price of $2.995 million, but still a notable sale.The property was purchased by Hamilton South IV and Manuel Bellod of New York City.Sometimes it’s simply a matter of the right buyer coming along. But there does seem to be a trend of a large number of home sales — more than the normal spring uptick. Second-home buyers are generally the firs t to jump in after there has been a slump, such as the one the Northwest Corner has experienced in the past few years. Here, those buyers are often weekenders, mostly from New York City.High-end properties are moving, as are more affordable homes — but local realtors say even those less expensive properties are almost all being bought as second homes. Real estate agents are saying the market has corrected, consumer confidence is high again and interest rates are low.At Sotheby’s, Regional Brokerage Manager Alan DiStasio reported that, since the beginning of April, the company is showing a 73 percent increase in dollar volume over last year. At the same time, the national average is down 17 percent. In the market for properties over $1 million, sales volume is up 62 percent.“We have successfully adapted to what can best be described as a new market reality,” DiStasio said. “It’s far different than anything we have ever experienced in the past.”Mimi Harson, who brokered the Stony Batter sale for Sotheby’s, said people are tired of holding back, and at the first real signs of a buyer’s market, they are going “to have their place in the country.”“It’s all about value. We’re seeing homes selling for closer to what they’re worth on the market and to where they are assessed,” Harson said. “We’ve also had three short sales this year, which we’ve never had before.”A short sale is when the selling price is lower than what is owed or has been invested in a property. It’s considered a sure sign the market has reached the tipping point.At Bain Real Estate, partner Chris Garrity said the typical buyer profile is a family unit from Manhattan or greater New York City looking for that weekend home. And it’s the mid-market, not the high-end, homes that buyers are snatching up right now.“We’re not seeing the investment bankers, but the average New Yorker seeking what everyone who migrates here seeks,” he said.The way he sees it, second-home buyers are purchasing a luxury item, and as with any luxury item, making a profit is not necessarily the goal.“They would be quite fortunate to break even, or to have to pay a little for the luxury, but I believe the risk-takers who are buying now in the changing market will find later they made the right decision.”As for sellers, those who bought in 2007 or after are not seeing a return on investment. But Garrity said both buyers and sellers are generally more realistic these days, and understand each other’s positions. “Property is a commodity. It’s fluid, and only worth what a buyer is willing to give you.”Elyse Harney, of Elyse Harney Real Estate, has been selling property in the Tri-state region for decades. She is a little more cautious about toasting the end of a bottomed-out market. “This is the time of year second homes sell,” Harney said. “My feeling about this season is that even if sellers are not convinced they need to bring their asking prices down, they figure it’s out of their control anyway. They are frustrated. Buyers are getting the best deals possible right now.“Most sellers are probably pretty close to their bottom line, and those new to the market are pretty close to what they should be.”What it all means for the economic picture here is uncertain at this point. Weekenders bring tax dollars and a minimum of strain on services, such as schools. They also tend to spend money on their visits here.Harney has tallied quite a few moderately-priced sales in the last few months. They are modest homes, the kind one would expect to be bought by locals as primary homes. But only a small percentage of those sales are families relocating within the area.