Westchester real estate shake-up

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By AMY TENNERY

The New York City real estate world has closely followed as brokerages here have downsized and shuttered offices. But just north of the city, in Westchester, N.Y., the real estate industry has quietly seen a shift of its own.

Indeed, some say the brokerage world there has been irrevocably altered during the downturn as some firms have announced closures, and others have set up shop or merged with larger corporate entities, poaching agents along the way.

The biggest shake-up, of course, was Sotheby's International Realty's October decision to terminate its presence in the county altogether. Sotheby's sold four of its offices -- its three "golden triangle" offices in Scarsdale, Rye and Larchmont, as well as one in Chappaqua -- to an affiliate, William Pitt Sotheby's International Realty. In addition, it shut down a fifth office in Katonah, farther north in Westchester.

Also, Rand Realty, which has seven offices in Westchester and roughly 340 agents, joined Realogy Corp.'s Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate franchise network in late April.

According to Greg Rand, the head of the firm, he joined Realogy -- the New Jersey-based parent company of Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate, Coldwell Banker, Century 21 Real Estate, the Corcoran Group and others -- in part because he wanted to acquire Century 21 Wolff, a roughly 120-agent firm under the Realogy umbrella.

Around the same time as the Rand-Realogy move, William Raveis Real Estate bought up 34-year-old firm Realty 3 Real Estate in Rye, said Richard Haggerty, deputy executive officer of the Westchester Putnam Association of Realtors.

The main reason for the changes in Westchester -- one of the wealthiest counties in the nation and home to the likes of Bill and Hillary Clinton, Martha Stewart and other high-profile figures -- was, like elsewhere, the loss of real estate business.

Overall sales in 2009 were down 12 percent over 2008 and sales volume for the year was the lowest it's been since 1993, according to the Westchester Putnam Board of Realtors. That, compounded with price declines of around 20 percent from their peak, has led to tough times, according to Michele Flood, an associate broker with Coldwell Banker Country Properties in Rye.

"We've had to get very realistic when we price homes," said Flood, one of the top-performing brokers in the county, according to the Westchester Putnam Multiple Listing Service. "We've had to be the bearer of bad news for sellers who think their homes are worth what they were two years ago."

Michelle Coletti, a senior vice president and associate broker at Paddington Stone Realty based in White Plains, said the upheaval in the Westchester brokerage world is a marked result of the downturn.

"There has definitely been an obvious shift from tradition and a change in the overall culture of the market in Westchester," she said.

To make matters worse, the industry is also dealing with a workforce that was bloated during the boom by people who didn't have the skills to weather a down market, sources say.

"When the market was booming, [there was] a flood in terms of appraisers, brokers" joining the field, said Ronny McInerney, the owner of the Yonkers-based Domus Appraisals.

He said the fallout has been a waterlogged industry with newer, less experienced brokers, ill-equipped to handle a market rupture. "When we get to the point where we are now, there's no place for them," he said.

Coletti said she has seen "an overall agent population decrease since the market downturn." ...CONTINUED

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