Report: State housing market mixed in 2018

Average sales prices down, but Conn. homes are selling faster

Connecticut’s real estate market was in flux for much of 2018, especially when compared to the other New England states, according to a new report from RE/MAX INTEGRA, New England.

RE/MAX INTEGRA, New England is based in Boston and is the world’s largest real estate sub-franchisor and according to its recently released market report for 2018 in the region, Connecticut suffered the steepest decline of any state when it came to average sales prices.

The average sale price fell by 4.19 percent or $12,068 in value in 2018 when compared to 2017, according to the RE/MAX report. Average sales prices for 2017 were $288,177, according to the report, and at $276,109 last year.

Massachusetts was the only other New England state where average sale prices declined, according to RE/MAX data. The average sale price of a Massachusetts home fell by 2.6 percent or $15,849 when comparing 2018 to 2017.

Maine was New England’s hot real estate market, both in terms of average sale prices and the average amount of time properties were on the market before selling.

The average sale price of a Maine home that sold in 2018 was $266,956, an increase of 12.12 percent or $28,859. The average number of days a Maine home remained on the market before being sold was 84 days in 2018, a decrease of 11.77 percent from a year earlier.

Like Maine, Connecticut saw a dramatic decrease on the average amount of days a home had to be on the market in 2018 before it sold. The average time on the market for Connecticut homes to sell in 2018 was 75 days, down 11.80 percent from the same period a year.

“As the New England markets start to shift, our agents work hard to stay informed,” said Fiona Petrie, executive vice president and managing director of U.S. operations for RE/MAX INTEGRA, New England.

Within Connecticut, most of REMAX’s regions saw average sale prices fall. Only the Hartford region and the Tolland area saw an increase in average sale prices. The Hartford area saw average sale prices rise 4.25 percent in 2018 to $238,124, an increase of $9,715.

The Tolland area saw a 3.64 percent increase in average sale prices last year. That represents $8,369 increase to an average sale price of $238.547.

The Middlesex County area had the highest decrease in average sales price in Connecticut, down about 11.11 percent or $38,416 to finish 2018 at $307,488.

Craig Milton is a broker with RE/MAX Valley Shore in Old Saybrook. The agency’s primary selling area is the lower Connecticut River Valley, which includes southern Middlesex County.

“We saw a lot of good activity,” Milton said. “We had buyers who were motivated to buy and we had a low inventory of homes for sale.”

The average number of days that homes were on the market in the Middlesex County area was down 5.56 percent in 2018 to 89 days.

Virtually all of the home sale activity handled by RE/MAX Valley Shore was existing homes, Milton said.

“There’s just not that much new construction out there,” he said. “The prices you can sell a new home for now aren’t high enough to cover the costs of land acquisition and building materials and still allow the builder to make a profit.”

Milton said one reason the average number of days on the market didn’t show a steeper drop might have been seller with unrealistic expectations about the price their home will fetch.

“There’s a fair number of overpriced homes out there,” he said. “In order for a home not to linger on the market, the seller has to be realistic and price their home competitively.”

Fairfield County had the second largest number of home sales last year, with 949 changing hands, according to the RE/MAX data. The average number of days homes were on the market in Fairfield County decreased by 13.11 percent from 97 to 84 days.

Fairfield County had the highest average sale price in 2018 at $480,751. But that average price was down 9.21 percent or $48,777 from where it had been in 2017.