October 2012 Market Update

Sales continued at an increased pace in October, and inventory levels are slowly decreasing. In Westport 45 homes went to escrow in October 2012, an increase of 164% when comparing to the previous October. On a yearly basis escrows are up 9.5%, to 334, though closed sales are still trailing 2011 by 4.2%. The median price of closed sales is now at $1,207,500, slightly off from earlier this summer indicating more activity of homes selling for under $1million. Weston continued its steady improvement. The yearly median sales price now stands at $745,000, which is $5000 less than the October 2011 level. 20 homes bindered in October compared to only 7 in October 2011. The 125 homes that have escrowed in 2012 vs. only 80 at this time last year, represent a 56.3% increase. The month's supply of inventory is now at 9.9 months vs. 30.7 months at this time last year. There have been107 closed sales year to date compared to only 90 at this time last year, a solid 18.9% improvement. Wilton's median sales price of $747,000 is a fraction higher than Weston's, indicating that historic parity between these similar towns is returning. This figure represents a decrease on a year to year basis of 9.5%. Some of this was due to the October median sales price of $650,000. As in all of the towns that I follow, homes on the lower end of the market have dominated recent sales activity. October saw a big jump in average days on the market. Yearly averages for marketing time of homes has increased to 163 days, an increase of 41.7% over the previous year. These figures are likely influenced by new measures of calculating these times instituted by the multiple listing service. Months of inventory in Wilton is now down to 8.9 months, better than Weston's 9.9. Closed sales were up in October in Wilton, and year to date there have been 185 single family home sales compared to 153 in 2011, a 20.9% increase (also slightly better than Weston's). Lastly, the largest town in Mid-Fairfield, Fairfield, saw the median sales price in October go to $578,000, a 30.6% increase over the previous October. The yearly median sale's price of $549,000 continues to make Fairfield the most affordable town of the Mid-Fairfield area. The 38 homes entering escrow in October nearly doubled the previous October's activity. Year to date 598 properties have gone to escrow in Fairfield, a very solid 29.2% increase. Closed sales were also up in October (33%), and year to date there have been 519 closed sales, an increase of 11.9% over 2011.

May 2012 Update

Continued Strength and Vibrancy Although closed sales are lagging on a year to year basis all signs continue to point to 2012 as being an improvement on 2011, with increased numbers of homes and condos under escrow in all mid-Fairfield towns. In Westport there were 64 single family properties that went to escrow in May compared to only 43 in 2011. The median sold price rose slightly in May to $1,260,000, which was 5.9% higher than May 2011. The total inventory is running at levels almost identical to 2011. Condo sales in Westport have been running at levels almost identical to 2011, but properties under contract are up 18.5% and condo inventory is down 15.6%. With 5.2 months of inventory based on the current inventory level it looks like there is a shift in the condo marketplace. There have been instances of multiple offers for well-priced move-in condition properties. Weston contract sales are running behind 2011 levels, but with the number of properties currently under contract more than making up the difference in this shortfall, Weston’s market is positioned to have increased sales this year. May’s median price of $750,000 was identical to May 2011. Inventory levels are still high compared to historic levels, resulting in longer marketing times for homes to go to contract. The picture in Wilton shadows its neighbor, Weston, though with slightly more favorable results. Closed single family home sales in Wilton were up 11.9% over 2011 numbers. Homes under contract are up almost 60% compared to last year. The lower end of the market is dominating sales with the median price dipping slightly (-3.3%) year to date. Closed sales in the Wilton Condo market are down year to date from 11 in 2011 to 6 thus far in 2012. Three properties went to contract in May. Competition from low priced homes may be siphoning some of the potential buyers. Single family closed sales in Fairfield have been identical to 2011 numbers, but we are still seeing vibrant activity with 108 new escrows in May representing a 61% increase. May also saw a slight uptick in the median sales price of closed sales, though it is still down marginally (-3.3%) when compared to last year at this time. Inventory numbers are slightly higher. Fairfield condos have seen a big jump in activity year to date (+55.6%), but the median price of condos has decreased about 25%. Norwalk has seen closed sales of single family homes in May ahead of the levels achieved in the same month last year, though year to date the total is slightly behind 2011 levels. There were 109 properties that went to binder in May representing a 109% increase. The year-end numbers are still on pace to be ahead of 2011, and the median price is $1000 higher than last year. Condo sales in Norwalk were up slightly in May, and escrows are up 22.6% year to date, with closed sales off 12.2%. It is still looking like yearly totals will be an improvement over 2011 levels, but the current median sales price is down 10.8%. May did show signs of improvement in the median price, which increased by 5.5% to $256,000.

Big Jump in Activity in March, 2012

The month of March saw a significant increase in activity in all towns. In Westport new properties for sale increased by 27, a 9.6% increase. There have been 66 closed sales of single family homes, up 5 from 2011 figures, and representing an increase of 8.2%. There have been 104 properties that have gone to escrow thus far, representing a 5.8% increase.

The month’s supply of inventory, based on the current sales pattern, actually decreased by .1 months, equivalent to a drop of .7%. The median sales price of $1,277,500 was $77,500 higher than the same number at this time in 2011, marking a 6.8% increase.

The condo market in Westport saw the median sales price, year-to-date, increase 19.9% to $662,000. The number of new properties coming to the market has decreased 22.7%. The number of properties going to escrow is on the same pace as in 2011, but the current inventory now represents 5.1 months vs. 6.5 months at the end of the first quarter in 2011.

In Weston the first quarter median sales price was $625,000. At this time in 2011 it stood at $730,000. This represents a 14.4% decrease. New properties entering the market since January 1 have totaled 121 vs. 119 during the first quarter of 2011, virtually unchanged. However, this now represents 11 months of inventory vs. 20.7 month of inventory after the first quarter of 2011. The reason for this is that Weston saw a huge jump in properties entering escrow during the first three months of the year, and especially March, with 40 vs. 19-more than doubling the first quarter 2011 results!

Wilton, which has been trending above Weston for the past couple of years, had a first quarter median price of $699,000 vs. $732,000 for the same time period in 2011, a drop of 4.6%. New properties on the market increased by 5.6%, but Wilton also experienced a big jump in properties going to escrow, 64 vs. 41 last year, a 56.1% increase. The inventory levels have remained fairly stable in Wilton,
dipping to 9 months vs. 10.9 months in 2011.

Fairfield’s median price for the first quarter of 2012 was $500,000, down $22,000 from the 1st quarter of 2011. Fairfield has seen 212 properties entering escrow through the first quarter. This represents a 64.3% increase from the first quarter of 2011. The strength of the market remains in the area falling just above and below the median price. There is currently only 6.5 months of inventory vs. 9.8 after the first quarter of 2011, a drop of 33.9%.

Fairfield’s condo market has seen a 21.3% drop in the median price for the 1st quarter of 2012, now standing at $342,000. The number of properties in Inventory has dropped a little over 10%. Here again there was a big jump in properties going to binder and contract, with 29 year to date, as compared to only 12 at this time last year-a 141% increase! Current inventory now represents 6.9 months of condo inventory.

Norwalk has seen a slight dip in the median price of single family homes, now standing at $385,000. Home sales jumped significantly in March with 178 homes going to escrow. There were only 112 single family homes that entered escrow in the first quarter of 2011. Current inventory is at 6.5 months vs. 11 months after the first quarter of 2011.

The condo market in Norwalk also saw a nice increase, with 71 properties entering escrow in the first quarter of 2012 vs. 52 in the first quarter of 2011. Most of that jump occurred in March with 32 properties going to escrow. The median price of condos that entered escrow was $297,000. This was $37,000 higher than the median sales price, year to date, and the number of new condo properties coming to market dropped 27.2%. Current inventory now stands at 9.2 months, much more manageable than the 13.9 month inventory after the first quarter of 2011, a decrease of 34%.