2010 Westport,Weston, Wilton, Fairfield Overview

2010 has been a bounce back year for local real estate.
Although we are not yet back to 2007 levels, all four towns
in the mid-Fairfieldarea have seen large gains in sales,
year over year. Westport continues to be the locomotive
driving higher end sales.

With its 344 sales of single family homes, Westport had
the largest percentage gain, representing an increase of 38%
over 2009 sales. 40% of those sales were under $1 million,
although there were 51 sales of homes in excess of $2 million,
including 28 sales greater than $3,000,000. The average sales
price of $1,448,806 was slightly higher than in 2009, as was
the median sales price of $1,232,500.

The third and fourth quarter sales slowed down
considerably from a fast start in the initial two quarters,
but several high end sales in the final two months of the
year brought up yearly averages, and the pipeline of future
sales(51 properties that are currently under escrow)has
increased considerably, leading one to speculate that first
quarter 2011 sales will see solid advances over 2010 first
quarter single family sales which totaled 36.

In Westport there appears to be pent up demand,
especially in the middle band lower end of the market.
Several recent offerings in these price ranges garnered
multiple offers.

The condominium market in Westport also saw gains in
activity, with 28 sales in 2010 vs. 23 in 2009. Sales
prices have decreased approximately 9% during the same
period. Properties with outdated kitchens and baths were
negatively impacted in their sales prices. Buyers, for
both condominiums and single family homes, continue to
have a preference for properties that are in ‘move-in’
condition.

Higher taxes in both Weston & Wilton have been
influential in holding back sales prices. 73 of the 118
sales in Weston and 114 of the 163 sales in Wilton were
for under $ 1 million, with the vast majority of those
sales under $900,000. Fairfield saw a great increase
in demand on the lower end of its market. 491 of the 589
passing title, or 83% of its sales were well under $1
million. The largest number of these sales fell into the
$400,000-500,000 range.Contrastly, the higher end of the
market saw fewer sales in 2010.

Inventory levels in all towns have decreased over
2009 levels, driven by increased sales. Marketing time
figures have been skewed by certain properties that have
been on the market for extended periods of time.
Quality of construction,layout, design and fixtures
continues to drive sales in all price ranges.


2010 Average & Median Sales Prices Sales Prices


Average Sales Price Median Sales Price

Westport $1,448,806 $1,232,500
Weston $ 929,994 $822,000

Wilton $ 880,803 $815,000

Fairfield $ 682,097 $527,000