State real estate listings up, offering wider stock for spring market
New home listings jumped 8 percent in April in Connecticut, a development real estate experts have been looking for as home buyers search out more options than the limited number of houses on the market that has driven up prices, squeezing some out of making a move.
Over the first four months of 2024, the median sale price for Connecticut real estate was $373,000, as reported by Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices New England Properties based in Wallingford. That was $43,000 more than the median sale price at the start of 2023 — a 13 percent increase.
Real estate experts say the best cure for higher prices is more houses on the market, including those in lower price ranges that are affordable to buyers on tight budgets for mortgages.
The Federal Reserve’s timing for any cuts in interest rates is still an unknown, with borrowers having to pay far more today on interest for a 30-year mortgage than many home owners who secured loans prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. Rates edged downward slightly last week for the first time since March, according to Freddie Mac, but remain above 7 percent nationally on average.
Hartford and New Haven counties saw Connecticut’s biggest increase of April housing stock listings, up 11 percent from a year ago according to Berkshire Hathaway, with Fairfield County seeing a 9 percent lift. Only Middlesex County saw a drop.