The Register Citizen (Torrington, CT)
2 Conn. cities see slower cooling of local housing markets
While the rest of the country shows signs of a cooling housing market, New Haven and Bridgeport are among the housing markets cooling the slowest, according to data released by real estate site Redfin.
Albany was ranked as the slowest cooling market in the country, with Bridgeport in third and New Haven in ninth. Redfin looked at year-to-year changes in prices, supply, pending sales, sale-to-list ratio and homes that went off-market in two weeks from February
to May.
On the other hand, West Coast cities are cooling much faster, according to Redfin. Five of the 10 fastest cooling markets are in California. There’s also quite a few southern markets.
Most of the markets cooling the slowest are in the north.
“The housing market has changed drastically in the last month because higher rates make homes even more expensive than they used to be. At the same time, fewer people can afford pricey homes because of the volatile stock market,” Redfin agent Joanthe na Rose said. “In the early spring, every home was selling over its asking price with multiple bids. Then the number of people attending open houses dropped from 20 to two, and now some homes are sitting on the market for over a month and selling for under asking price. Supply is starting to pile up.”
During the COVID-19 pandemic, interest rates were low and the availability of remote work opened new housing opportunities. That created a searing hot housing market that saw inventory drop to some of
lowest levels with available homes flying off the market for well above asking price.
But that’s changing. High home prices and mortgage rates along with a volatile stock market have pushed many out of the homebuying market. During the pandemic, states like Connecticut saw exoduses of untethered employees flocking to warmer climates.
Those West Coast and southern cities are where the prices shot up the most. Their unaffordability has led to a cooling, Redfin’s
data shows. But in markets like New Haven and Bridgeport, where things didn’t get quite as hot as some of the markets that saw pandemic booms, there’s not as much room for cooling.
Median sale price in New Haven is $310,000 with a 31.7-percent drop in inventory since last year. Bridgeport has a median home price of $570,000 with a 35.4-percent drop in inventory. Connecticut’s markets aren’t heating up, but they’re not getting much better for buyers either.
“But there is good news for some buyers. People who can afford to buy right now could get something for $100,000 or $200,000 less than a few months ago, largely because homes are often no longer selling above asking price,” Rose said. “They’ll have a higher monthly payment for now due to the rise in mortgage rates, but can refinance later if rates come down.”