REGIONAL – There are some dramatic shifts taking place in the real estate market across Ulster and Sullivan counties. The doldrums that followed the bust are over. High end buyers are pushing into new areas as inventory tightens up. There is even a little new building activity showing up at some planning boards here and there after several years with virtually nothing happening on that front.

Candida Ellis, managing partner and a licensed broker at Coldwell Banker, Village Green Realty, gives an overview.

"Most towns are appreciating here in Ulster County," she says. "It's an extremely desirable place to be and increasingly becoming a commodity for people wanting space and privacy."

As others have noted over the years, draw a circle centered on Manhattan with a radius of 100 miles and look at empty space, mountains, and good roads or rail connecting the two. Ulster and Sullivan counties stand out immediately.

And down in Sullivan, David Knudsen — a licensed broker with Catskills Buyer Agency who regularly blogs about his business — noted a dramatic heating up of the market there that had seen a boost in sales of between 20 and 40 percent, reflecting the strong activity in earlier quarters this year.

"We've had five quarters now with double digit increases in market activity," he points out, while also noting some differences in the two counties' markets. "Here in Sullivan we have less of the high end. This is a value market, solidly middle class. Bread and butter for us is the thirty-five year old couple from Brooklyn, with one kid and another on the way, looking for some space. In the city a two bedroom apartment is $1.5 million. Here, in the $300-$400,000 range they have many options."

Ellis, based in Kingston, talked about a different level of "Brooklyn Buzz."

"Kingston reminds me in some ways of New York in the 70s and 80s, when something real was happening with no pretension," she says. "There's an organic mix of young and old, a mix of artistic culture and historical sensibility. There are these beautiful older homes and young people moving in, and the fact that there's a certain urbanity to Kingston is very important."

But what about other areas down Route 209 towards Sullivan County?

"In Rochester, the luxury market will be very interesting over the next ten years. Wawarsing? It's the next logical progression," Ellis answered. "We're going to see some interesting things happen in Wawarsing over the next five years."

Eric Bean, another broker with Village Green Realty, went on to focus on the higher end of the market and what's exciting there.

"Last two years I've seen a big surge. People are filtering out from Stone Ridge; they don't need to live there," he says. "I sell to high profile people in TV and film and they want a laid back country feeling, a place with natural beauty where they can go hiking. They've turned away from the Hamptons and those kind of places... One of my clients said she doesn't want to have to put on makeup just to go have a cup of coffee, and she's a professional model."

Bean goes on to explain Ulster's charms.

"This isn't like Westchester. This is still real farm country," he observes. "When people come to me and ask for something authentic... Well, they don't find much of that in Dutchess now. And they gravitate here because we still have it."

And Ellenville?

"Yes, there are people considering Ellenville and that whole area, where they might not have four years ago," the high end broker answers. "One of the things people are looking for is the authentic farmhouse but they also love 60s modern, and there's so much of that in Ellenville. And it's at a great price, too."

David Barnes, another Village Green broker who works the 209 corridor, also noted that while tough, Wawarsing's real estate profile is starting to shift.

"I'm very optimistic that things are going to turn around in Ellenville. I'm very glad to see that new Wawarsing App; it's so important today, when people check everything out on the internet first," he says. "With that App, people can see the beauty of the area, they can see Lippman Park, Minnewaska, the rail trails, as well as the new revived Ellenville downtown, the restaurants."

Barnes adds that he's also keen on Kerhonkson.

"That's become a hot zone," he points out. "People are looking both for second homes and first homes; there's a trend getting away from weekending and instead, people are staying here for the week and going to the city for the weekends. These are people who work from home and go to the city for fun."

What are these kind of people looking for?

"Open space in the home, open floor plans. They like to be able to mingle with company, not just be in the kitchen," Barnes adds. "And, of course, broadband and cell phone access are high demand. They have to have those.... Yet there's also the urge to have privacy, one of the reasons people like the area. And proximity to the parks, to Mohonk, to trails and hiking."

In a surprising end note, Barnes adds that views and waterfront access are no longer big draws... at least in Ulster County.

In Sullivan, however, lakefront property remains the prize.

"People want the 'wow' factor. Water is part of that," Knudsen points out. "An interesting trend from recent years — privacy, privacy, privacy. At the upper end people can buy huge amounts of privacy. Typical buyer is a 35-40 year old man who wants acreage because they want an anti-urban experience with their kids. They want an ATV and a snowmobile and adventures out in the country."

Karen Mills of Better Homes & Gardens, Rand Realty, based in Pine Bush, adds that the median sale price in September had risen 2.6 percent, with a 2.1 percent increase for Mamakating real estate and a 5 percent jump for all of Sullivan County. Regina Clark, a broker with Real Estate Circuit, backed up her view.

What about the Montreign Casino effect?

Not yet, Knudsen says.

"Some sellers, Rock Hill down to Wurtsboro, have drunk the Kool Aid and are asking ridiculous prices, but the impact now is minimal. The casino is not something that people from outside this area think about," he adds. "We won't see any effect from that until after March 2018 and the opening of the casino. When they hire workers, they will be hiring people who already live within an hour's commute."

Finally, over the ridge, the market in Shawangunk is slowing down now. Realtor Catherine Terrizzi, who operates in the hamlet of Wallkill, found that August was "getting really hot again. It was a nice burst that we had, a late summer burst that lasted up into October, when it slowed down."

As it usually does... excepting for some new areas.