FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Editorial Contact:
Aglaia Pikounis
The Warren Group
(617) 896-5370
apikounis@thewarrengroup.com
Conn. Median Home Prices Down 18% in First Quarter;
Quarterly Home Sales Fall To Slowest Pace in 22 Years
March, First-Quarter Condo Sales Drop By More Than 30%
BOSTON, May 4, 2009 – The single-family median home price in Connecticut plummeted nearly 18 percent in the first quarter compared to the same period last year, the steepest drop in home prices for any quarter since The Warren Group began tracking the state’s prices changes in 1987.
The median selling price for single-family homes fell 17.6 percent in the first three months of 2009 to $220,000 from $267,000 in the first quarter of 2008, according to The Warren Group, publisher of The Commercial Record. The March median home price was $220,000, 18.1 percent lower than the $268,500 median price recorded in March 2008. Monthly median home prices have been falling by double-digit percentages year-over-year for six consecutive months.
“Like Massachusetts, Connecticut’s housing market really struggled in the first three months of the year. The last quarter was the worst first quarter in terms of median home price declines and unit sales,” said Timothy M. Warren Jr., CEO of The Warren Group. “There is some hope that incentives like the first-time homebuyer tax credit and low mortgage interest rates can help boost sales, but even those types of perks won’t bring a dramatic turnaround in sales if people are struggling with job loss and salary cuts.”
Sales of single-family homes for the first quarter and for the month of March fell more than 20 percent year-over-year. Single-family home sales from January through March fell 27.7 percent to 3,568 from 4,932 a year earlier. It was the slowest sales pace for a first quarter since The Warren Group began tracking Connecticut home sales in 1987. A total of 1,492 homes were sold in March, down 21.1 percent from 1,891 in March 2008.
Fairfield and Litchfield counties had the most dramatic drop in sales and median home prices during the beginning of the year, helping to drag down the overall housing market in Connecticut. Single-family home sales in Fairfield County plunged 35.2 percent in the first quarter to 745 from 1,149 last year. Fairfield County’s median home price dropped to $370,000 in the first three months of 2009, a 27.2 percent decrease from $508,000 during the same period in 2008. Litchfield County’s home sales totaled 228 in the first quarter, or 32.3 percent lower than the 337 transactions last year. Meanwhile, the county’s median home price was down 24.6 percent to $205,000 in the first quarter from $272,000 a year earlier.
Connecticut’s condominium sales during the first quarter also fell to the lowest level for a first quarter in at least 22 years. Condo sales plunged 39.5 percent to 1,103 from 1,823 in the first quarter of 2008. In March, 432 condos sold, a 37.2 percent drop from 688 in March 2008. Monthly condo sales have fallen by 20 percent or more year-over-year for the last 15 months.
But median condo prices haven’t retreated as much as single-family home prices. The first quarter median condo price fell 6.3 percent to $178,000 from $190,000. The median price for condos sold in March was off 5 percent, declining from $189,825 to $180,250.
Complete statistics for cities, towns and counties available to members of the media by request.
About The Warren Group
The Warren Group, based in Boston, is the publisher of Banker & Tradesman, The Commercial Record and a series of association publications. As the premier provider of real estate data in New England, The Warren Group offers a range of real estate products and services for professionals and consumers searching for real estate and financial information. For more information about The Warren Group, please visit www.thewarrengroup.com or call 800-356-8805.