Connecticut’s median home sale price hits five-year high

The market for single-family homes in Connecticut finished 2018 with the median sale price for that type of dwelling reaching a five-year high, according to the Massachusetts-based publisher of the Commercial Record.

The median sale price for single-family homes for all of 2018 was $258,000, a 3.2 percent in- crease over 2017. That gain was achieved with the help of a 0.9 percent increase in the median sale price in December.

The median sale price for single-family homes in Connecticut during December was $247,000.

The number of single-family homes sold in December in the state was down 0.8 percent compared to the same period a year ago. The number of single-family homes sold in the state during all of 2018 was down 1.9 percent from 2017.

Timothy Warren, chief executive officer of The Warren Group, said the median sale price for single-family homes in Connecticut “still has some ways to go before getting back to where it was at the housing market’s peak.”

“While a year-end median price of $258,000 is impressive, it’s still more than 13 percent below the peak,” Warren said in a statement.

Condominium sales in Connecticut were flat in December. But even though sales were flat for the month, Connecticut’s housing market still posted its best year since 2007.

Condominium sales in the state for all of 2018 were down 2.7 percent compared to the previous year.

The median sale price for condominiums in December was

$162,000, down $4,500 or 2.7 percent from the same period in 2017. The median sale price for Connecticut condominiums for all of

2018 was $165,000, which represents a 1.2 percent increase from

2017.

That was the highest full-year increase in the median sale price

for condominiums in the state since 2015.

“Once again, condos proved to be a favorite among Connecticut home buyers,” Warren said. “However, the 9,067 condo sales we saw last year is still well below the market’s peak. In 2006 and 2007, the local condo market saw 14,639

and 12,899 transactions, respectively.”

Breaking down the Connecticut housing market data to the county level, New Haven County singlefamily home sales were down by 7.3 percent in December. Singlefamily home sales for all of 2018 in New Haven County were up by 0.7 percent compared to 2017.

The median sale price for singlefamily homes in New Haven County during December was up by 1.9

percent, or $6,000, to $211,000. Over the full 12 months of 2018, the median sale price for single-family homes in New Haven County increased by 4.4 percent or $9,500 to $227,500.

Donald Klepper-Smith, chief economist and director of research for New Haven-based DataCore Partners, said the Connecticut home sales data “is pretty much what we expected.” But looking ahead in 2019, Klepper-Smith said

the housing market actually may benefit from the current state of the economy.

“With a weaker domestic economy, we’re seeing interest rates backing off,” he said. If interest rates do decline, Klepper-Smith said some homeowners might consider refinancing their home loans.

Steve Calcagni, president of Calcagni Real Estate in Cheshire, said the increase in median single-

family home price likely is the result of activity in the $300,000 to $400,000 range,

“That’s the hottest price point for us,” Calcagni said. “Anything that comes on the market at that price seems to be moving fairly quickly.”

Calcagni Real Estate also has offices in Southington, Hamden and Wallingford.