1st Quarter 2008 Statistics

There are some surprises in the first quarter statistics for 2008.

Although most towns saw a marked decrease in average sales prices, Westport actually saw a marked increase. The average 1st quarter sales price for a single family homes was $1,814,721 vs. $ 1,482,415. On the units side, there were 43 homes sold vs. 56 in the first quarter of 2007.

Weston also saw an increase in average sales price, from $1,106,789 in 2007 to $1,318,031 in 2008's first quarter. Unit sales were off slightly from 19 in 2007 to 16 in 2008.

Both Wilton and Fairfield saw marked decreases in their average sales price. Wilton's average fell to $1,067,231 from $1,123,672 in 2007 and Fairfield dropped to $715,266
from $ 849,609 in 2007. Both of these figures are an indication of increased sales under $1 million. Unit figures also decreased in both towns, down from 33 to 26 in Wilton, and 134 to 103 in Fairfield, the largest drop of all 4 towns in the Mid-Fairfield region.

January/February Property Transfers

For the sake of simplicity I have included all sales (single family, condos, land, comm.) as a group to get a quick overview of a short period of time. This two month period is not necessarily an indicator of what will happen over a 12 month period, yet does give some insights about possible trends.

I have also combined Westport and Weston as one group. This is not an indicator that values in the two towns are equal. I have done so because they are sister towns. I will separate sales of the two towns, as I have done in the past, over longer periods of time to more accurately evaluate statistics.

Property Transfers Westport/Weston Jan-Feb. 2008

During the same period in 2007 the results were very similar; 11 sales in Weston vs. 12 in ’08, and 35 in Westport vs. 32 in ’08. However, the average sales prices were considerably higher in ’08 vs. ’07 $1,798,250 vs. $1,383,511.
This is an indication that the higher end, i.e., over $1 million, has been experiencing more sales than the lower end.

Property Transfers Fairfield January/February

The results in Fairfield, unlike Westport and Weston show a greater disparity from 2007 to 2008. 2007 sales in Fairfield totalled 114 vs. only 71 in 2008. In both cases the vast majority of these sales were under $1 million. The average sales prices were strikingly similar, $722,937 in 2007 vs. $715, 986 in 2008. However, the 2007 sales included 3 sales over $5 million, which if excluded would indicate that prices have actually risen over the past year.

The average list to sale average was also practically identical $756,466 in '07 and $715,986 in '08, meaning that list to sales prices represented just under 95% in both cases. What did change was the average marketing time. In 2007 it was 64 days compared to 100 days in 2008.

Wilton January/February Property Transfers

In Wilton there is a dropoff similar to Fairfield. For this two month period in 2007 there were 28 sales compared to 19 in 2008. The average listing and sales prices declined slightly over the past year. Average list prices declined from $1,157,300 in 2007 to $1,135,363 in 2007 with average sales prices declining from $1,104,603 in '07 to $1,068,763 in '08. Average marketing times increased from 117 days for homes that sold during this period in '07 to 133 days in '08.

These figures reflect marketing conditions in the end of the previous years, i.e., Fall 2006 and Fall 2007. Following up at two month intervals with help to see what the trends are for the current year.