A Closer Look at the Numbers

For those looking for a more detailed of the outlay of the 361 single family homes that sold in Westport during 2012, here is the breakdown by area-I used the elementary schools as criteria since different the different marketing areas that are provided by the Multiple Listing Service do not take into account the entire town. Pricepoint Greens Farms Saugatuck Long Lots Coleytown Kingshighway $0-500,000 2 4 4 3 5 $500,000-$1m 18 28 27 32 15 $1m-1.5m 16 20 21 18 13 $1.5-2m 15 15 19 8 8 $2m+ 23 4 20 13 6 TOTALS 74 75 91 74 47 Total sales were divided somewhat proportionately, with the largest elementary school, Long Lots, having the most sales with 91. Greens Farms and Long Lots had the most homes sold over $2 million. A majority of the sales in all areas were over $1 million.

By the Numbers...Breakdown of Sales

Here are the breakdown of Sales in the Mid-Fairfield Connecticut area through November 8, 2012 Price Range Westport Weston Wilton Fairfield Norwalk $0-500,000 22 21 36 283 458 $500,000-800,000 77 38 90 168 94 $800,000-1,000,000 55 26 38 47 22 $1,000,000-1,200,000 27 12 20 40 6 $1,200,000-1,500,000 53 5 13 36 12 $1,500,000-2,000,000 52 7 10 13 10 $2,000,000-2,500,000 29 1 1 10 4 $2,500,000-3,000,000 15 1 0 2 3 $3,000,000-3,500,000 7 0 0 0 2 $3,500,000+ 10 0 0 1 3 Totals 327 108 199 588 607 Includes Single Family (26*) (15*) (68*) (176*) & Condos* The majority of sales were in the lower end of each market. This is especially pronounced in Norwalk, where 458 of the 607 sales year to date, have been under $500,000 (these figures include Condominium sales). In Fairfield, 451 of the 588 sales have been under $800,000. 154 of the 327 sales in Westport, or nearly half, have been under $1,000,000. Another 'hot' area has been homes selling between $1,000,000-2,000,000, with a total of 132 homes sold in this price range. On the high end it is clear that the vast majority of sales over $2,000,000 have gone to Westport. Westport has had 61 sales over $2,000,000 and the next closest town is Fairfield with 13. In the $1,000,000-1,200,000 range Fairfield has had the most sales (40), but as a proportion of sales this price range has been strong in both Wilton & Weston. These two towns have also attracted many buyers seeking value below $1,200,000, with many buyers ending their home search in Weston & Wilton after originally looking in Westport, as well as points west (including Greenwich, Darien, New Canaan, & Westchester county).

September 2012 Update

Quietly and Steadily moving along With the opening of schools, end of summer, public and religious holidays, September is usually a slower month on the real estate calendar. Not so this year. Each of the towns in Mid-Fairfield saw large increases in activity in September when compared to the previous year. On the top of the list proportionately was Weston which had 17 additional properties go to escrow compared to 2011, an increase of 283%! Total escrows in Weston have already are up 63% over this time last year, and total closed sales (94) are 13% higher than at this time last year. The median is holding steady at about $750,000. Wilton had 10 more homes enter escrow in September ’12 than ’11, a 62.5% increase. Closed sales are up 26 year to date, an increase of 18%. Wilton is slightly outpacing Weston for the year, but Weston may catch up. The median price is almost dollar for dollar the same as Weston. Westport’s escrows were also up, 22, a 100% increase over September 2011. Closed sales of single family homes now stand at 278, 12 behind the pace of 2011, but the total dollar volume of sales in Westport has increased by 12.8%. The median sales price fell slightly in September. The median sales price year to date is $1,225,000. Total inventory has been slowly creeping up in Westport. There are now 10 months worth of inventory when compared to recent sales. This is actually an improvement over 2011, and does not tell the whole story. Much of this inventory is weighted in the high end ($2,000,000+). 123 of the current 318 single family homes listed for sale in Westport are asking over $2 million, and 250 (79%) of those listings are for over $1million. Fairfield’s home inventory of 6 months is the healthiest, including the high end. Its current median price of $550,000 is a good indication of where activity has been highest, and well-priced homes under $700,000 in Fairfield have been moving quickly. In a healthy market, where there is a reasonable balance between seller supply and buyer demand, there tends to be less than 6 months worth of inventory in most price ranges. Weston’s 8.6 month’s of inventory and Wilton’s 9.5 months are also signs of markets that are transitioning back to healthier levels. It is still a seller’s market, but in certain price ranges in each town there are many exceptions.