Regional real estate prices continue to rise

DUTCHESS COUNTY — Expectations at the beginning of 2023 were that by year’s end, real estate prices would fall from the high levels of 2021 and 2022.

That didn’t happen here, nor in most places, with home prices steadily rising during the year while the volume of unit sales fell.

In Dutchess, an analysis from Rocket Homes released in January 2024 showed that the median sold price of a single-family home in the month of December had increased to $416,104, 4.2% above December of 2022.

New York state annual median price data indicates a median price of all homes in Dutchess County in 2020 of $335,050; in 2021 of $375,000; and in 2022 of $395,000.

December’s median price represents a 24% increase over the COVID-19 low interest-rate environment of 2020. Columbia County median home prices increased even more off a lower base in December to $474,000, an increase of 29.4% compared to the 2020 median price.

Our regional residential real estate market, like most in the United States, is still a seller’s market as supply remains less than demand despite high interest rates and high prices. Sellers are just not moving despite the high equity most have in their homes — there’s simply no place to move to.

The decrease in new residential construction has added to this supply imbalance with fewer new houses built in Dutchess County compared to the housing boom of the 2000s. At the same time, the demand side has increased from remote working and also by the decline in the number of people living in a household.