Joseph Pettinella's blog

Watch the video for a look at the town of Beacon New York, its people, and its charm.  From unique gift shops, to art galleries, music stores, bars and restaurants, to it's scenic surroundings, Beacon is a gem of tradition and pride.

Dutchess County real estate market statistics through the end of April show that the market continues to move in the right direction.

There were 584 sales of single family homes (attached and detached) for the first four months of 2015 compared to 517 in 2014, an increase in the number of closed sales of 11.5%.  Sales in the month of April 2015 were 33.3% higher than in April 2014, so perhaps an even more robust trend is emerging . . . it's too early to tell.

The average selling price is approximately $280,000 for detached single family homes, and they are taking, on average, 149 days to sell.  Condos and townhomes are selling at an average price of approximately $175,000 and are taking 123 days, on average, to sell.  These averages are very similar to last year's statistics.

According to a recent National Association of REALTORS® survey, the group of Americans referred to as 'Millennials', 18 to 34 year olds, made up 32% of the home buying market last year.  As this group matures, it is predicted that they will become an even larger group of homeowners than the 'Baby Boomers' . . . there are more of them.

Typically this group of young home buyers do their research on line to learn about home buying ins and outs, they pretty much know what they want, where they want to live, and have found homes on line that they want to see.  They are busy, want to cut to the chase, and rely on their real estate agent to handle all the details more than any other group of buyers.

Rising rents, new low down payment loan options, the reduction in private mortgage insurance, and the improving job market have all been major contributing factors driving young people to purchase their own home.   Here are a few interesting statistics about the 'Millennial' buyers: