Regional Spotlight: Greater Hartford Home and Condominium Prices Continue Stable

RISMEDIA, Dec. 4, 2007-Median sale prices for single family homes in the Greater Hartford region have continued to hold in the $250,000 to $260,000 range throughout 2007. Compared with September, October’s data shows a 10.5% decrease in the number of homes on the market, and small increases in pending sales (+ 2.8%) and closed sales (+4.68%), according to the Greater Hartford Association of Realtors® (GHAR).

Comparing year to date home sales figures with activity from January to October 2006, the number of days a home remains on the market before it is sold increased 8.93%, from 56 to 61 days. Pending sales in the region decreased 9.77% (from 10,269 homes in 2006 to 9,266 homes so far this year) and closed sales decreased 11.58% (from 10,166 to 8,989 homes).

Year to date, 759 homes have been sold in the region compared with 997 in 2006, a 23.87% decrease. Increases in the number of single family homes sold have been greatest in the $100,000 to $119,999 price range (+85.71%) and $500,000+ (+12.28%) while the number of homes sold between $120,000 to $400,000 have declined by 25.5 to 40.9%.

“The Greater Hartford region appears to be experiencing a tightening in inventory levels,” said GHAR President and CEO Jeff Arakelian. “At the same time, the average number of days that a home is on the market before it is sold has hovered between 57 and 63 days for the past few months. Combined, these two factors may be contributing to relative price stability. Those that purchase and market well maintained and well priced homes in the market will continue to benefit.”

Year to date, 2.37% of homes sold have been priced under $100,000; 3.4% between $100,000 and $139,999; 10.8% between $140,000 and $179,999; 8.3% between $180,000 and $199,999; 21.6% between $200,000 and 249,999; 17.2% between $250,000 and $299,999; 19.6% between $300,000 and 399,000; 8.1% between $400,000 and $499,999 and 8.4% for homes more than $500,000.

Median prices for condominiums in the region for October increased 4.47%, from $172,250 in October 2006 to $179,950 last month, despite a 14.36% decrease in closed sales (from 362 units October 2006 to 310 last month), a 17.31% increase in the time a condo is on the market (from 52 to 61 days) and a 16.62% increase in inventory (from 1,450 to 1,691 units).

On a national level, single-family existing-home sales were stable in October while the condo sector was down, according to the National Association of Realtors® (NAR). Lingering effects of the credit crunch were a drag on sales but the mortgage situation has improved significantly.

“As noted last month, temporary mortgage problems were peaking back in August when many of the sales closed in October were being negotiated,” said Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist. “We continue to see the biggest impact in high-cost markets that rely on jumbo loans,” he said.

“A trend away from subprime mortgages to FHA loans, which often carry much lower interest rates, is a positive development for consumers and the housing market going forward. Still, it will take some time for the change to yield a measurably higher closed sales volume in the aftermath of the subprime collapse. In the near term, we expect home sales to remain fairly stable.”

For more information, visit www.gharonline.com.

Real Estate Hot Topics

Profit Center: Real Estate Tips, Training & Events

RISMedia Solutions

RISMedia on the Go

Today's Featured Listing