Home Sales Up In July

 Home sales rose year over year in July in both Rockland and Orange counties, according to the latest figures released Thursday by the Hudson Gateway Multiple Listing Service.  Both single-family and condominium sales increased for the year ending in July as well as year-to-date in both counties.

Rockland County saw the larger gain in single-family home sales year over year at 30 percent while they rose by eight percent in Orange County. 

So far in 2012, in the first seven months, home sales rose by 10 percent in Rockland County and by three percent in Orange County.

Condo and townhouse sales in Orange County rose by a whopping 64 percent year over year in July while they grew by two percent in Rockland.  In the first seven months of this year, condo sales rose 20 percent in Orange County and by 10 percent in Rockland County.

The MLS’s Ann Garti is somewhat optimistic about the numbers.

“Certainly the condo sales in Orange had been devastated so I was encouraged to see the improvement, but by the same token, it’s only relative to the previous year and we’ll see what happens going forward,” Garti said. “The same can be said for single family residential although I really feel more optimistic since single family residential is definitely on an improving track in both counties.”

The average selling prices for both categories year to date continued to reflect lower prices than last year.