Summer housing sales spike across Connecticut
Home sales in Connecticut surged in the third quarter, as the state continued to see robust demand, according to a new report from Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices New England Properties.
Overall, 17,775 listed homes were sold in the state in the past quarter — a 30 percent rise from the same period last year. The number of singlefamily house sales jumped 32 percent, while condominium and townhome sales increased 24 percent.
Those gains propelled the number of sales year-to-date to nearly 38,000, up 9 percent from the first nine months of 2019.
“It was an amazing quarter across the board,” said Candace Adams, CEO and president of BHHS New England Properties.
Every county saw their sale totals increase. Fairfield County saw a 52 percent jump, while New Haven
County posted a 19 percent increase.
The surge reflected the impact of the coronavirus crisis. Since the start of the pandemic, Real estate agents have reported a rush of potential buyers looking to move out of New York City. The high numbers last quarter also reflect sales that were delayed in the spring due to the virus but closed in the summer.
“When COVID hit, everything stopped in its track for a couple of months,” Adams said. “It then added another layer of prospective buyers. Those were people who were migrating out of high-density areas or urban centers or people who just said ‘I want my own space; I want my own house. I want to move out of an apartment, and I can afford to do that now because interest rates are at their very lowest.’”
Aligning with the proliferation of sales, the median sale price for the state rose 18 percent to about
$310,000. In Fairfield County, the median sale price reached $550,000, up
26 percent from last year. New Haven County’s median sale amounted to
$257,000, up 13 percent. Connecticut’s median listing price increased 18 percent to $315,000. Homes were on the market for a median of 36 days, compared with 49 a year ago.
At the same time, the number of single-family listings increased 16 percent; 18 percent for condos and townhomes.
The tally of new listings grew 34 percent in Fairfield County and 20 percent in New Haven County.
Despite the growth in listings, demand is so pronounced that it has depleted the available housing inventory. There was an approximately two-month supply of single-family homes in the third quarter, compared with nearly five months in the third quarter last year.
The supply represents the number of properties for sale divided by the number of properties sold.
“We don’t have the inventory to support the demand,” Adams said. “So we have multiple offers on nearly everything we put on the market unless it’s at the very high end or significantly overpriced.”
Nonetheless, sellers have
been able to find buyers for multimillion-dollar homes — including some listing for more than $5 million — that have long sat on the market.
“Our high end in Fairfield County has really jumped up,” Adams said. “We’re very excited about absorbing some of that high-end inventory.”
Year-to-date, there have been about 53,000 new listings statewide, down 6 percent from the first nine months of 2019.
Adams expects the market’s momentum to extend into the fourth quarter.
“And I think it will continue into the beginning of next year,” Adams said. “But there are three variables that could impact our
market: One would be employment, two would be inventory, and another would be interest rates. I don’t anticipate that interest rates will go up, I do anticipate there will be employment problems, and I don’t think we’re going to have a surge in inventory.”
In the spring, the outbreak of COVID-19 and ensuing business shutdowns sparked massive job losses that amounted to more than double the toll of the state’s 2008-10 recession. But in the past few months the state has embarked on a modest recovery. It added about 20,000 jobs in August, although the unemployment rate was estimated at around 15 percent.
“The latest housing market data is a great sign of positive migration into the state that will further add to our world-class workforce. And hopefully, we can get out-of-state businesses to follow suit,” said Chris DiPentima, CEO and president of the Connecticut Business & Industry Association. “We expect the surge will initially impact retail and service industries, but there can be a greater, more lasting impact on the state’s economy if policymakers leverage this trend so we can sustain it for the longterm.”