A wave of CT homes priced above $5M
New Canaan, Darien listings among those in that range
As a new study shows the strength of the “luxury” home market nationally, Connecticut continues to see a surge of homes priced at $5 million or more — and not all in the prime stomping grounds of Greenwich, where dozens are available above that threshold.
A day after a backcountry Greenwich home on Round Hill Road went on the market for $11.9 million, a spread in the heart of Litchfield County topped that asking price by $50,000 — with more than 100 acres of land and amenities that include a
Greek amphitheater.
The same day, another Round Hill Road property hit at nearly $5.5 million — along with an Old Saybrook listing that topping that price by exactly $1 million, a shingled colonial on Fenwick neck fronting Long Island Sound, near the entrance to the Connecticut River.
On Wednesday, Redfin reported that luxury real estate sales nationally are running more than 40 percent above their levels of a year ago, compared to gains of 7 percent or less for homes it categorizes as mid-priced or affordable.
In Connecticut, New York and New Jersey, it is a trend that dates back to the pandemic exodus from Manhattan as companies kept workers in home offices during the COVID-19 pandemic, with some opting for the suburbs or countryside.
“With inventory so sparse, it is diffusing all over the place” said Paul Breunich, CEO of William Pitt Sotheby’s International Realty, which lists the Litchfield Hills and Old Saybrook properties.
“People can’t choose, ‘Well, I’m going to live in Rye (N.Y.) or I’m not going to move.’ Well no — if they want to move, they are going to be looking in Rye, they are going to be looking in Greenwich and Darien, … they’re going to be looking in Ridgefield.”
Like many Connecticut listings, 2021 was not the market debut for the Senff Road home in Washington’s Litchfield Hills, which had been on the market at varying points in the past five years.
But emboldened by a continuing real estate boom in Connecticut and parts of New York and New Jersey, property owners are putting listings back on the market that failed to command their asking prices in prior years.
As of Thursday morning, Zillow listed about 200 Connecticut homes priced at $5 million or more. Two Norwalk listings went online on Wednesday priced above $5 million, and homes hit the market between $4 million
and $5.5 million in Darien, New Canaan, Westport, Fairfield and New Fairfield.
Greenwich continues to dominate the Connecticut luxury market; mansions priced at $32 million and $25 million went into their second week on the open market, and a $55 million listing now creeps into its third week.
Earlier this month in the Greenwich Streets blog authored by Mark Pruner of Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices New
England Properties, Pruner theorized that New York’s decision to raise taxes on top earning residents could push some to explore Connecticut as an alternative residence among those choosing to stay in the orbit of Manhattan.
“I expect you’ll see some rather impressive high-end sales later in the year,” Pruner wrote.