Skaneateles Real Estate Update - Now and Then

 I hadn't done a review of the listings and sales of single family homes in months.  I knew that homes were going fast and for higher prices than in the past.  Was this a bubble?  Could Skaneateles sustain these prices?  What would happen when the pandemic was over and people started returning to the cities?  Or would they return?  I already miss NYC - but will it be the same?  Such a stark time.

But what we do know is that there are currently only 20 active listings in the Skaneateles area of the multiple listing service.  Of these, 6 are in the Village and 9 are considered waterfront.  List prices range from $170,000 to 7.5 million dollars.  Of the 20 active listings, 10 are over a million.

If you look at the Skaneateles School district which includes parts of other towns, there is only one additional listing.  Overall, there are 3 single family homes under contract.

These numbers are historic lows.  A house goes on the market and a bidding war ensues.  This holds true not only for Skaneateles but also the surrounding communities, to a lesser degree.  Prices reflect this - one home sold for well over $100,000 after multiple offers. 

In 2020, in the Town of Skaneateles, 113 single family homes closed.  Of these, 48 were in the Village.  There were 14 true waterfront homes (not shared lakefront) that closed.  Prices ranged from $91,000 to over 6 million.  Ten of the 113 homes were over one million; 9 were under $200,000.  

In the Skaneateles School District there were 141 sold and closed properties.  Of these, 25 were waterfront homes.

I looked at other years, years that did not have a pandemic or ridiculously low interest rates, and found that overall 2020 was not all that different.  

• In 2019, there were 108 sales of which 32 were in the Village.  The median price was $340,000.  
• In 2018, there were 94 sales of which 38 were in the Village.  The median price was $322,000.
• In 2020, there were 113 sales of which 48 were in the Village.  The median price was $415,000.

The trend in the past few years has been towards Village living, and why not?  Skaneateles is a truly beautiful place to live, pandemic or not.  People are willing to pay for this privilege, and with the rates so low this was the year to buy - if you found the home.  That's the difference - so few homes are on the market.  This year will be very interesting - but I can't imagine it will be as wild as 2020.