The Daily Freeman is reporting the New York City is lifting restrictions on use of land which is contiguous to the Catskill State Park. The Catskill State Park comprises a large area of Ulster County. These contiguous properties are now being posted as public access areas which now do not require a special permit. This announcement will be welcomed by outdoor enthusiasts who will now be able to use previous restricted land to hike, hunt and fish on.

Tax Foundation released a report that rated 788 counties across the country on the amount of taxes homeowners are required to pay. The good news was that Ulster County was considered a lower-tax county when compared to other counties in the Hudson Valley and NY/NJ metro area. However, Ulster came in at the 57th most expensive county of 788 with a median homeowner yearly tax bill of $3,926. Westchester County was #1, Rockland County was #7, Putnam County was 11th and Dutchess County was 38th. It’s no wonder that downstate homeowners are moving north to get a break on their tax bills.

The counties were also ranked on the tax bill relative to the home value and the tax bill relative to income. Ulster County came in at 155th and 47th respectively on those measures.

An examination of the data in the Ulster County MLS indicates that number of sales and median price both decreased in August in comparison to August of 2007. The median price was $237,500–down almost 7% and the number of homes sold dropped to 107 homes (down 31.8%). The median price dropped significantly compared to July of this year ($270,000).

With lots of inventory, ample price reductions and new federal mortgage incentives, now is a great time for buyers to catch a steal.

The Ulster County Housing Consortium is asking for participation of county residents to fill out a survey which poses various questions about housing affordability. The survey is very thorough and asks some very insightful questions about how local economic factors are affecting affordability. I encourage all residents to take a couple of minutes to fill out the survey online.