Monday, June 11, 2007

New Construction Activity

There was concern amongst builders in the fall of 2006 of the quantity of new homes being built in the mid-Fairfield area and beyond. At one point last year New Canaan had nearly 50% of its inventory comprised of new construction. That situation has changed dramatically with new construction now representing just over 26% of New Canaan listings. It is worth noting, however that the average listing price there is $ 4,393,078.

In Westport there are currently 74 new homes on the market, representing 21.5% of the current inventory. Based on the number of sales of new homes in 2006, this represents approx-
imately 8 months of inventory with an average asking price of $ 2,963,558. Year to date there have been 27 sales and there are an additional 15 properties under contract. We will be watching this inventory closely in the coming months to see if there is additional activity, or if these properties will sit on the market until next spring. As things currently stand Westport has been percentage wise the most active of the 4 towns in Mid-Fairfield. We have already started to see greater flexibility in the final sales prices. That being said, the average sales price of new construction continues to rise higher than the average sales prices. This is due to the increased sales prices of raw land, or homes being knocked down.

Fairfield is in next position in terms of new construction inventory with 95 new homes representing 16.4% of its inventory. Based on 2006 sales (79), this represents 11+ months of inventory. The average asking price is $ 1,652,100, by far the lowest in the area. Thirty-five of these homes are under $1,000,000, making Fairfield the most affordable arena for new construction. 34 sales have been recorded year to date, with 20 additional properties under contract.

Wilton's 26 new construction listings out of 199 total listings represent 14%. The average listing price of these homes is $ 2,431,838. 2007 sales have been far from brisk, however. There have been only 7 sales in 2007, with 4 additional properties under contract. The current inventory represents 25+ months of activity based on 2006 sales.

Lastly, Weston's inventory of 26 new homes (the same as Wilton's), represents 48+ months of inventory based on 2006 sales of 6 new homes. The asking price of these homes is just slightly less than the Westport figures at $ 2,939,271. There have been 4 new homes sold in Weston year to date. Weston has the largest new subdivision being built.

Concerns of oversupply are especially noteworthy in Weston, though builders in Weston tend to be patient than their counterparts in neighboring towns. Since the 2007 market has been slower than that of 2006 in some towns in Mid-Fairfield we shall continue to watch overall figures as well as New Construction figures.