Wednesday, April 20, 2011

First Quarter 2011-Consistency Stands Out

Mid-Fairfield First Quarter 2011 Results and Tendencies

What seems most striking when looking at Westport 1st quarter statistics is the consistency compared to the same quarter in 2010. For both 2010 and 2011 there were exactly 314 properties that came to the market from January 1 to March 31st. The number of closed sales in that same period was exactly 69 in both the first quarter of 2010 and 2011. However, there are several indications of increasing activity when compared to last year. There were 139 properties that opened escrow in 2011 compared to 87 in the first quarter of ’10. There was a marked upswing in March 2011 compared to that month in 2010, with 62 properties opening escrow compared to 29 the previous year, and the median sold price year to date has increased 19.5% to $1,081,250.
The 1st quarter results in Weston were less promising with 28 sales through March 31st compared to 36 the previous year, with the median sold price decreasing 11.6% to $726,500. March sales year over year were exactly the same, at 11, but properties that opened escrow declined by 9.8% from 41 in 2010 to 37 in 2011. New properties for sale was also very consistent with 128 in 2011 vs. 132 in 2010.
Weston’s western neighbor, Wilton, is faring better this year than Weston. It has had a 48.8% increase of properties opening escrow, with 64 compared to 43 last year’s 1st quarter. Closed sales year to date also increased to 40 compared to 33 in the 1st quarter of 2010, a 21.2% increase. Like Weston it did see a decline in the median sales price, from $819,000 to $768,000, a decrease of 6.3%. New properties for sale was 160 compared to 160 last year, also strikingly similar.
The town of Fairfield has seen improvement over its 2010 figures. There have been 205 homes that have opened escrow compared to 164 in the first quarter of 2010, and increase of 25%. Closed sales have decreased 14.9% to 114, compared to 134 of first quarter 2010, but median sales prices have increased slightly to $533,750, a 4.7% increase, though well below median prices at the height of the market. New properties for sale actually decreased significantly in Fairfield, from 552 in the 1st quarter of 2010 to only 396 in 2011.
Typically a fairly large percentage of 1st quarter closed sales represent 4th quarter activity in the previous year. It is worth noting that we have had particularly difficult weather in the first 3 months of 2011 which has slowed activity somewhat. It appears that buyer demand is strong, based on a number of recent instances of multiple offers on new offerings in a variety of price ranges.

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