Fairfield County Market Update

There is a healthy, active inventory of 7,973 single family homes on the Greater Fairfield County Consolidated Multiple Listing Service. To date, we have 4,051 sales representing a unit sales decrease of 11% vs. the first seven months of 2010. The result is a 14 month supply of homes currently on the market. The median selling price county-wide is $400,000 which is only a 1.5% decrease versus this same time frame last year. This update provides more evidence that prices during the first 7 months of the year did level off. This is not the case in every town and can be broken down for each specific property so it is important for our listeners to talk to their REALTOR® about the advantages of buying or selling in a specific town and price range at this time.

There are 1,055 properties with fully executed contracts waiting to close. The median list price of those homes is $335,000, 16.3% lower than the median sales price of closed homes so far this year. Indications are that the last 5 months of this year will produce a lower number of sales and lower selling prices. In various towns, we have seen the top end of the market slow dramatically as activity in the lower tier continued.

There are 485 properties with accepted offers. The median list price of those homes with accepted offers is $364,900, 8.7% lower than the median selling price of the properties that have closed so far this year.

Overall, county-wide sales in the upper tier remain just behind the rate of sales last year with 177 closed single family sales, over $2MM this year, which is .6% less than the number of sales in that price range last year. 72 single family homes over $3MM have sold so far this year representing a unit sales decrease of 4%. Sales in the upper tier started out strong but seem to have slowed during the second half.

Sellers should talk to their REALTORS® about ways to make their homes stand out above their competition and if they really want to sell they must price realistically! It is interesting to note that 15% of sales in one Fairfield County town closed at or above list price during the first 5 months of the year. Buyers recognize a fair deal and will compete with other buyers when they see a fairly priced property.