Douglas Elliman’s Sally Slater discovered herself in an unfamiliar place earlier this yr: ought to her patrons resolve to not shut on a property in Bedford, there was merely no plan B.
“Except one thing was a wreck and wanted to be completely redone, I simply had nothing to indicate,” mentioned Slater, who represented the customer at 842 Sleepy Hole Highway in Briarcliff Manor, the costliest house offered in Westchester County between June 2025 and July 2026, based on an inventory of the highest gross sales compiled by TRD Knowledge. “It’s unbelievable how scarce the stock is.”
Demand is outpacing provide throughout each worth level in Westchester, house to lots of New York Metropolis’s high commutable suburbs, however high-end patrons have remarkably restricted choices. Simply over 20 properties priced above $7 million are presently listed on the MLS in Westchester.
A number of years in the past, $3 million would get a purchaser half an acre of land and vital sq. footage in Westchester, based on Compass’ Angela Retelny, the itemizing agent for 42 Mamaroneck Highway in Scarsdale, eighth within the rating. As we speak, “you must be within the five-million-plus vary to realize this,” she mentioned. The median sale worth for properties is projected to cross the $1 million mark for the primary time ever this yr, based on annualized information from Houlihan Lawrence.
Westchester’s low stock has a few causes, together with a surge in patrons throughout and after Covid, decentralized municipal zoning guidelines and the way lengthy it’s been a go-to space (“Just about each inch of land, particularly in southern Westchester, has been developed at this level,” Heather Harrison of Compass mentioned). Add to that: Many who purchase there by no means transfer once more.
“Individuals are completely satisfied right here, and so they need to keep,” Slater mentioned. “One among my first patrons from 30 years in the past nonetheless lives in the identical home. He advised me, ‘I’m not going to promote. I’m going to be buried right here.’”
Upper echelons
The county’s deep-pocketed patrons come from New York Metropolis’s high-paying industries, with the occasional West Coast or international purchaser, brokers mentioned.
“Finance folks have historically been the lion’s share of the customer pool in Westchester,” mentioned David Turner of Compass, who listed the Briarcliff property. “They nonetheless are. However I’m additionally beginning to see extra tech folks — , younger patrons who invented an app, offered their firm and made some huge cash.”
In Scarsdale, one of many wealthiest cities within the nation, the variety of gross sales above $5 million greater than doubled over the previous yr — leaping from 11 to 23 transactions, outpacing the broader county, the place gross sales at this stage went up 67 %, to 65 whole. Retelny mentioned patrons had been nonetheless seeking to wrap up offers in late August, simply weeks earlier than faculty began and that she had fielded inquiries from brokers in different elements of the county about any off-market stock above $10 million, which she referred to as “extremely uncommon.”
Nothing in Westchester will get snapped up extra rapidly than direct waterfront estates in such Sound Shore cities as Rye and Mamaroneck, averaging 20 and 11 days on market in July, respectively. Common days on market have been dropping throughout the county with properties lasting simply 23 days in July, based on Houlihan Lawrence.
Working example: 1016 Orienta Avenue in Mamaroneck (No. 5) and 19 Oak Bluff Avenue in Larchmont (No. 10) spent a complete of simply 22 days in the marketplace mixed. “Each are generational, legacy properties,” mentioned Pollena Forsman of Houlihan Lawrence, who represented all events within the two transactions.
Waterfront or not, the vast majority of Westchester homebuyers are looking for a similar system. “Consumers love older and redone,” Slater mentioned. “Properties will promote at a premium as a result of patrons don’t need to do any work.”
This urge for food for historic however restored estates landed Rabbit Hill, a 22-acre property in Briarcliff Manor, on high of the listing. Former hedge-funder Doug Haynes and his spouse, Laurice Haynes, poured hundreds of thousands into the property designed by Mott B. Schmidt, a favourite of the Astor, Rockefeller and Vanderbilt households, earlier than promoting it in March.
“Nineteen Thirties-ish estates command a few of the finest properties in Westchester,” mentioned Brian Milton, itemizing agent for 9 Cowdray Park Drive in Armonk (No. 3).
On the higher numbers, Milton added, the previous properties have to have had full renovations. In sure neighborhoods, builders or homeowners have torn down older, extra modest properties, to place up mansions, typically on the most sq. footage allowed by zoning. On the highest listing, Scarsdale properties 1 Duck Pond Highway and 42 Mamaroneck Highway are each new builds.
As in different luxurious areas, costs within the county have nowhere else to go however up, native brokers imagine.
“Westchester continues to be undervalued and can proceed to understand considerably,” Retelny mentioned. “It’s stunning to see what homes are promoting for right this moment.”
Nonetheless, the report — $33 million for David Rockefeller’s 75-acre Hudson Pines property in Pocantico Hills — is eight years previous. Turner, who brokered the deal, doesn’t see “a property of that stature in the marketplace proper now,” however imagines one may get listed quickly. “It’s achievable,” he mentioned.
A little much less sleepy?
If transferring from the town to the ’burbs as soon as signaled the boring finish of a purchaser’s youth, celeb buys now put a shine on a few of Westchester’s cities and villages — particularly that of the Knicks’ Jalen Brunson, who lives in Scarsdale. (The Knicks have a Westchester coaching facility.)
“It undoubtedly provides to the cachet,” mentioned Compass’ Zach Harrison, about massive names within the county.
Harrison represented retired Yankee pitcher Mariano Rivera when he offered his Rye house in 2022. “The truth that a New York sports activities legend lived there was precisely what attracted the customer,” he mentioned.
However Retelny, in Scarsdale, doesn’t see a direct line between star presence and the present worth surge, though she acknowledges some Brunson affect.
“This spike is the results of sellers seeing the demand in the marketplace and benefiting from the chance to realize stellar costs,” she mentioned.
