Heating Up in May

In the month of May Weston had 35 properties go to contract compared to 15 in May 2014. In addition the median price in Weston has increased over 7% year to date to $850,000. Year to date 84 properties have gone to contract compared to 51 through the end of May 2014. Based on the current activity projected inventory is down over 60 per cent. 

Wilton also saw an increase of homes going to contract in May, with 55 homes accepting offers compared to 24 in the previous May. Year to date numbers in Wilton are slightly below Weston in percentage terms (up 38.4%), with 119 homes going to contract compared to 86 at this time last year. The median price in Wilton has also increased 9% to $829,000.

Fairfield had the smallest increase in May (up 112%) with 155 properties going to contract compared to 73, but this is still a considerable jump. For the year those numbers are up 41% putting it just below Weston in comparable sales volume increase. The median price has increased only 1.2% in Fairfield to only $556,000. It remains a target for first time home buyers and those looking to downsize in a beach community.

Westport also had good numbers in May with 76 properties going to contract compared to 33 in May 2014. Year to date ecrows stand at 174 compared to 154 at the end of May 2014. The median price in Westport has gone down by 5.4% to $1,250,000. These numbers are likely to shift as some more expensive homes change title. 

Fairfield and Weston have both seen closed sales that have been higher than in 2014. Weston is currently up 20.5% and Fairfield has seen an increase of 13.9%. Wilton’s closed sales are down 8.5% and Westport’s are off 20.5%. These sales figures in the early months of the year often represent activity from the end of the previous year. Based on the number of homes `currently under contract, and the large number of closings that typically take place in the summer months, we should be seeing a change in closed sale numbers shortly.

 

The current story of closed sales might indicate to the casual viewer that we are running behind 2014, but based on this month's activity it is likely that we will catch up to 2014 by summer's end.  Whether the final year end results will equal 2014 will depend somewhat on the post-summer activity.  Based on the number of buyers that continue to look through sources like Listingbook, Zillow, Trulia, etc.

I would expect that there will be a relatively strong autumn market based on the delay of the typical spring market and the fact that May has been such a strong month.

Another element to watch are the slowly rising interest rates, to see if buyers will react to these numbers.