Virginia Smith has a good article in Mansion Global,
As Wealthy New Yorkers Flee the City for Suburbs, Will the Exodus Be Permanent? It discusses what is happening in the New York Suburbs. As Ms. Smith mentions Greenwich sales are up for the 1st quarter and for the month of March. (Contracts are are up and deals are still being done.) This increase in sales is nice change from 2019 when the combination of the $10,000 SALT tax cap and the reduction of the mortgage interest deductibility resulted in lower home sales in Greenwich. Despite COVID-19, sales and contracts are doing better 2020 than in 2019. Interest rates are down, NYC buyers are more motivated due to the virus and in the perfect storm, Greenwich sellers are more amenable to doing deals as the future is uncertain.
The question is what happens A.P., after the pandemic. As I say in the article, the general consensus is that we are going to see a surge in sales as these factors encourage buyers to pull the trigger. One additional benefit Greenwich now has, that wasn’t a significant factor, before COVID is Greenwich Hospital. Greenwich has an excellent and large hospital that is affiliated with Yale-New Haven. It has performed well in the pandemic. Before the pandemic, second home buyers didn’t really consider the size and quality of local medical facilities. Going forward having a well run medical facility will likely be a factor in where home buyers locate.
Stay tuned, we live in interesting times.
