Hartford County home prices beginning to cool
Here are 10 towns where sales above asking price are showing signs of easing
Home sale prices in Hartford County — sent soaring in the pandemic in heated bidding wars for a dwindling number of properties — are now showing early signs of a cooling off as rising mortgage rates make borrowing more expensive.
Experts say major price declines aren’t likely in the Hartford area — at least at this point — unlike other parts of country that are already starting to see significant price drops.
Multiple bids are still common, but reductions in asking prices increasingly have cropped up in recent weeks in the Hartford area and elsewhere in Connecticut, said Jeffrey P. Cohen, a professor of finance and real estate at the University of Connecticut in Storrs.
“But it’s not tremendous,” Cohen said. “So there is some cooling but, at least so far, it’s not offsetting the substantial gains that we have seen over the past six months or so.”
Joanne Breen, associate broker at ERA Hart Sargis-Breen in Newington, said the reductions in listing prices she has seen recently are a sign that prices are leveling off. The reductions she’s seen have been anywhere between 5% and 10%.
“Reductions seem to be significant and one time deals rather than smaller and more frequent reductions,” Breen said. “I’ve noticed that most houses that have a price reduction tend to sell very quickly once they are reduced.”
An analysis by The Courant of single-family house sales statistics covering the first nine months of 2022 show sales in all 29 towns and cities in Hartford County, on average, above the original listing price compared with the same period a year ago.
But those same statistics, provided by SmartMLS, the statewide multiple listing service, also point to early signs of slowing.
While still registering over original list price, more than 60% of the towns and cities saw smaller gains over list price than Hartford County as a whole through September, compared with the same period a year ago. And six municipalities were either flat or registered slight declines.
Overall, Hartford County registered single-family home sale prices, on average, that were 104.6% of the original asking price, an increase of 1.5%.
Pressure on buyers, sellers
Single-family house sales in Hartford County have been declining for months, as the inventory of homes has dwindled. But the shortage propelled prices higher, helped, until recently, by low mortgage rates.
The full impact of price reductions aren’t likely show up in statistics for at least a few months, said Marla Byrnes, a real estate agent at Berkshire Hathaway Home Services New England Properties in West Hartford.
“My suspicion is that we are seeing things sell for less over asking than we did before, that people aren’t being quite as aggressive in their over asking bids,” Brynes said.
Mortgage rates have more than doubled in the past year. Last week, the national average crept closer to 7% for a 30-year, fixed-rate home loan. That compared with a little over 3% a year ago, according to mortgage giant Freddie Mac.
Rising mortgage rates have come as the Federal Reserve has moved to rein in inflation — the general rise in the price of goods and services — that has reached a 40-year high. The housing market is among the sectors the Fed hopes will cool amid the rate increases.
Cohen, the Kinnard Real Estate Scholar at the UConn School of Business, said higher mortgage rates have put pressure on buyers that are getting priced out of the market.
“So, in order to offset that, if people want to sell their homes in a timely manner, people are being forced to reduce the asking price a little,” Cohen said.
‘Kicking ourselves’
Few, if any, however, see a return of plunging residential prices the likes of which Hartford — and Connecticut — experienced in the housing recession in the late 2000s. Hartford and elsewhere in the state didn’t regain much price traction until the pandemic, years after much of the rest of country, even neighboring states like Massachusetts.
The shift in the home sale market has thrown another variable into Phil and Ann Marie Moraitis’ search for a home near West Hartford Center, where the couple is attracted to the walkable environment.
The couple, empty nesters from a Springfield suburb, decided they wanted to downsize about two years ago but they decided to wait. They also had specific requirements about a house not needing a lot of work.
“Now, we are kicking ourselves because then, as you know, the prices just soared,” Ann Marie Moraitis said.
The Moraitises say they are all right with paying a bit more for the right house and have the advantage of paying cash when they sell their current home.
With the scarcity of options ideally within a mile of West Hartford Center, the couple isn’t sure prices will decline, but perhaps increases will ease.
“We are keeping ourselves in check because it is impossible to believe that everyone can keep spending more and more money,” Ann Marie Moraitis said. “At some point, these interest rates are going to change that.”
Here are the top 10 towns in Hartford County that saw the least increases — or declines — in home sale prices paid over original list prices. The statistics compare the first nine months of this year with the same period in 2021.
1. Berlin
Single-family home sales: 138, down 19%
Median sale price: $355,000, up 10.2%
Percentage of listing price received: 101%, down 0.6%
Population: 20,484 Median household income: $101,127
Area (square miles): 26 Notable Attraction: Ragged Mountain Memorial Preserve
2. Hartland
Single-family home sales: 10
Median sale price: $391,000, up 16.7%
Percentage of listing price received: 101.6%, down 0.5%
Population: 1,982 Median household income: $99,722
Area (square miles): 33 Notable attraction: The Falls Brook Trail runs 1.5 miles through the Tunxis State Forest in Hartland.
3. East Granby
Single-family home sales: 65, up 22.5%
Median sale price: $350,000, up 6.1%
Percentage of listing price received: 103%, down 0.4%
Population: 5,304 Median household income: $104,336
Area (square miles): 18 Notable attraction: Old Newgate Prison and Copper Mine
4. East Hartford
Single-family home sales: 378, down 11.5%
Median sale price: $237,500, up 10.5%
Percentage of listing price received: 104.1%, down 0.4%
Population: 50,772 Median household income: $55,967
Area (square miles): 18 Notable attraction: The Pratt & Whitney Hangar Museum displays a collection of engines from company’s founding in 1925 through today.
5. Hartford
Single-family home sales: 208, unchanged
Median sale price: $220,000, up 10.9%
Percentage of listing price received: 102%, down 0.1%
Population: 123,088 Median household income: $36,278
Area (square miles): 17 Notable attraction: Charter Oak Cultural Center
6. Enfield
Single-family home sales: 361, down 11.7%
Median sale price: $260,000, up 8.3%
Percentage of listing price received: 105.3%, unchanged
Population: 44,143 Median household income: $79,730
Area (square miles): 33 Notable attraction: Scantic River State Park
7. Windsor Locks
Single-family home sales: 105, down 1%
Median sale price: $250,000, up 8.7%
Percentage of listing price received: 104.7%, up 0.2%
Population: 12,671 Median household income: $70,067
Area (square miles): 9 Notable attraction: The New England Air Museum
8. East Windsor
Single-family home sales: 73, down 17%
Median sale price: $300,000, down 2.4%
Percentage of listing price received: 105%, up 0.6%
Population: 11,445 Median household income: $76,824
Area (square miles): 26 Notable attraction: The Connecticut Trolley Museum
9. Manchester
Single-family home sales: 409, down 15.8%
Median sale price: $265,000, up 12.8%
Percentage of listing price received: 104.9%, up 0.6%
Population: 57,805 Median household income: $74,503
Area (square miles): 27 Notable attraction: The Little Theatre of Manchester
10. Marlborough
Single-family home sales: 78, down 9.3%
Median sale price: $349,500, down 0.1%
Percentage of listing price received: 101.7%, down 0.6%
Population: 6,368 Median household income: $112,557
Area (square miles): 23 Notable attraction: Lake Terramuggus