The Register Citizen (Torrington, CT)
Home sales dip, prices spike
A lack of inventory on the market led to a 7.2 percent upward spike in the median sale price of homes in Connecticut in February, even as the number of single-family homes sold dipped by 3 percent, according to a report from the Boston-based real estate firm The Warren Group.
The February median sale price of $237,000 compared to $221,000 in February 2017, the largest year-over-year percentage jump since September 2013, according to the report.
The 1,688 single-family homes sold in the state compared less favorably to the 1,741 homes sold in February 2017.
“Sales may have slowed in February, but the rising price is a good sign for any current homeowners who are thinking of selling,” Timothy Warren, CEO of The Warren Group, said. “The inventory of homes for sale is dropping in Connecticut and the tighter supply may be pushing up prices. Closings from the spring real estate shopping season peak in the summer months. We’ll soon know if this trend continues or if homeowners rush to put their homes on the market to take advantage of higher prices.”
Donald Klepper-Smith, chief economist and director of research at DataCore Partners, warned to keep the numbers in perspective as other economic indicators in the state still point to a sluggish recovery.
“The 7 percent year-over-year rise in median prices looks to be an anomaly given economic fundamentals,” he said. “Job growth is nonexistent and full job recovery isn’t expected until the end of 2019. Add in the fact that traction in the housing markets is tied to traction in the labor markets and you can see that the small sample we have for the first two months of 2018 is probably overstating strength in the Connecticut housing market.”
Condominium sales in Connecticut increased 9.3 percent in February with 496 sales, up from 454 sold in February 2017, according to The Warren Group. The median sale price for condos edged 1.1 percent higher to $145,000, up from $143,375 a year earlier.
The Warren Group is the publisher of The Commercial Record.