Page 23 - Westchester Relocation Guide 2021

really what’s important now. That’s the main reason we are leaving Brooklyn.”
Theirs is a story playing out across Westchester today: The coronavirus pandemic spurred an incredible urban exodus in 2020, which shows no signs of slowing down for 2021. It seems a weighty percentage of Brooklyn and Manhattan folks currently have their internal compasses pointing north.
It started shortly after the lockdown began, when many city families with the means to do so hightailed it out of their urban dwellings and flooded the rental market for homes in Westchester and the Hudson Valley. Short-term rentals extended into summer stays as the lockdown continued, driving up rents to astronomical rates.
“We saw a flood of people who wanted a getaway place. We saw a lot of interest in suburban and rural spaces; anything, even up to two hours away from Manhattan, became desirable,” explains realtor Scott Elwell, principal at the SOE Team with Douglas Elliman Real Estate.
When it became apparent that the pandemic wasn’t going to be over anytime soon, a shift began occurring, says Dawn Knief, licensed real estate salesperson with Compass in Scarsdale. “People were in denial at first, thinking that they would rent a summer house and then return to the city once COVID ran its course. But as time progressed, and they
began to realize this virus is not going away, health and safety — especially for people with young children — became a larger factor,” she explains. “Families who were thinking about coming to Westchester and buying a house in a few years decided to speed up the process and buy now.”
In addition, younger buyers who lost jobs due to the pandemic or became
more budget-conscious with the threat of potential job loss shifted their searches from city apartments to more affordable Westchester properties, notes Myrna Anover, licensed associate real estate broker at REMAX Prime Properties in Scarsdale. “We’ve seen a lot of 30-somethings looking here for cheaper alternatives. They are looking for condos, and they see how much more they can get for a smaller amount of money,” she explains.
Throw in historically low interest rates, and it created the perfect storm for a swarm of urban buyers to descend on Westchester in droves. As a result, the suburban real estate market has been characterized by sky-high demand, tight inventory, bidding wars, and cash buyers.
“Every county that we cover has been experiencing high buyer demand; every one of our offices reported a substantial increase in activity,” notes Debbie Doern, senior vice president of sales for Houlihan Lawrence. “Southern Westchester, for example, is always relatively busy because
“Families who were thinking about coming
to Westchester and buying a house in a few years
decided to speed up the process and buy now.”—Dawn Knief, Compass
LIVING IN WESTCHESTER AND THE HUDSON VALLEY | RELOCATION & MOVING GUIDE 21
Their decision expedited by the pandemic, the Condon family moved from Brooklyn to Larchmont in August 2020.
© COURTESY OF DAWN KNIEF
© DOUG SCHNEIDER