Home sales up, prices down

Sales of single-family homes and condominiums in Connecticut continued to grow at a rapid pace in July, according to a real estate industry trade group, even as the median sale price for both types of housing fell.

Sales of single-family sales last month increased 14.6 percent compared to July 2014, according to the group Connecticut Realtors. There were 757 single-family homes sold statewide in July, compared to 644 during the same period a year earlier.

Condominium sales in Connecticut grew by 21 percent last month when compared to July 2014. A total of 959 condominium units sold last month, an increase of 168 compared to the number sold in July 2014.

“Overall momentum is positive,” Sandy Maier Schede, president of Connecticut Realtors and owner of Maier Real Estate in Meriden, said in a statement.

The median sale price for single-family homes that were sold in July fell slightly, from $276,400 in July 2014 to $275,000 last month. That represents a decline of a half a percentage point.

The median sale price for condominiums last month took an even bigger hit than the one for single family homes, falling 5.7 percent last month when compared to July 2014. Sales involving condominiums had a median price of $165,000 last month, a $10,000 decrease from the same period in 2014.

July’s home sales numbers are encouraging because middle of the summer is not traditionally considered to be a period of strong real estate activity, said Michael Barbaro, president of New Haven Middlesex Association of Realtors and the owner of Huntsman-Meade & Partners in New Haven,

“You have a lot of people on vacation during the summer, so it’s a time when people aren’t around to look at homes,” Barbaro said. “And I’ve had some clients tell me that they don’t want their homes shown (to potential buyers) when they are on vacation.”

But July’s housing numbers reflect home sales that closed last month, he said. That means the home purchasing process for those probably was started in May, which is considered part of the spring selling season.

“The spring is a good period for us because people are raring to go, to get out of the house after the winter,” Barbaro said.

Sales of single-family homes in New Haven County increased 17.54 percent last month compared in July 2014. There were 757 single-family homes sold in July, compared to 644 during the same period last year.

Condominium sales in New Haven County rose by 17.24 percent last month to 204 units. There were 174 condominium units sold in New Haven County in July 2014.

The median sale price for single-family homes in New Haven County last month was $230,000, a 7.9 percent decrease from July 2014. The median sale price for single-family homes last July was $249,900.

The median sale price for condominiums fell by $10,000 when comparing last month to July 2014. The median sale price in July 2014 was $135,000, but was $125,000 last month.