June Bounce Back

June saw a marked increase in homes going to escrow in all towns within the Mid-Fairfield area. The biggest winner in those terms was Wilton which saw 59 homes go to contract In June compared to 29 in June of 2013, representing an increase of 103%. Closed sales in Wilton were identical in June to the total of the previous month of June, but the number of closed sales year to date is down 12.8%. The median price for Wilton year to date however is up slightly 1.5%, to $790,000, and inventory is down year to date -3.5%. Only Fairfield with 318 sales in the first 6 months of the year is ahead of the previous year’s closings, up 7.8%. Fairfield saw a 34.3% boost in June of homes going to contract compared to the same month in ’13, and is up 10.4% year to date of homes that have gone to contract. Westport saw 67 homes go to contract in June compared to 56 in June 2013, but year to date numbers continue to lag behind. There have been 226 homes that have gone to contract compared to 260 in the first six months of 2013. Closed sales year to date have totaled 170 compared to 211 in 2013, a drop-off of 19.4%, which closely mirrored the month of June which saw closings off 20%. The silver lining is that the median sales price is $1,400,000 through June, an increase of 10.9%. These numbers may not be the most accurate reflection of market values, because approximately 15% of sales in the past 6 months have been new construction averaging over $2,000,000, and 22% of the sales have been over $2,000,000. Inventory levels in all towns are at approximately the same levels as 2013 or lower. A significant number of homes on the market have previously been on the market in the past 12 months. Some of these have either been renovated or come back to the market at lower prices and have sold. An equal or larger number are still on the market and have not sold. Buyer’s expectations of ‘move-in condition’ homes are the driving force in the market.