Local real estate sales surge

Eastern Connecticut home and land sales increased in the third quarter, eliciting cheers from leaders in the construction and real estate industries.

Sales of single-family homes in New London and Windham counties combined rose 17.33 percent to 799 units from 681 a year earlier while land sales, an important indicator for new home construction, grew 147.37 percent to 47 units from 19, the Eastern Connecticut Association of Realtors reported Tuesday.

“Inventory is down and demand has been pent up,” said Renee Main, executive officer of the Salem-based Builders and Remodelers Association of Eastern Connecticut, which represents construction companies. “Hopefully, after the election, people will calm down and things will continue to get better.”

Single-family homes are the largest segment of the real estate market. New London County sales climbed 16.33 percent to 570 units from 490 a year earlier for the three months ended Sept. 30. Windham County posted a gain of 19.90 percent to 229 units from 191. Just as important is the firming trends in prices with New London County’s median sales price increasing 6.26 percent to $233,500 for the period while Windham County rose 3.44 percent to $165,500.

Median price for the two counties combined has risen for three consecutive quarters, noted John Bolduc, CEO of the Franklin-based Realtors association.

“I think consumer confidence has a lot to do with it,” he said Tuesday. “There has never been a better time to buy.”

Connecticut’s growing unemployment rate, including hundreds of recent layoffs at Mohegan Sun, could slow activity going forward, Bolduc said.

Foreclosures are weighing less heavily on the market, enabling prices to stabilize, Bolduc said. Yet it’s taking longer to sell homes with New London County’s average days on market for single-family sales rising to 109 from 94 in the third quarter while Windham County’s days climbed to 97 from 93.

The lower end of the market showed strength with mobile home sales doubling to 42 units from 21. Unit sales in all six market segments tracked by the Realtors association rose with sales for all segments combined rising 20.80 percent to 1,051 from 870, group statistics showed.

Activity is expected to slow in the fourth quarter because it is traditionally one of the year’s slowest quarters, Bolduc said. Financing is still proving difficult to obtain for some in the construction industry, Main said.

Source: http://www.norwichbulletin.com/newsnow/x1146359652/Local-real-estate-sales-surge#

State commercial real estate surges

Connecticut's commercial real estate conditions are on the upswing, according to a survey released Tuesday.

The Farmington Bank/ODMD Commercial Real Estate Index, released quarterly, doubled in the most recent survey compared with levels of a year ago. The second-quarter survey showed confidence in the state's commercial real estate market at the highest level since data were first tracked in 2010.

"The fact that the 'future expectations' component is now outpacing readings on the current commercial real estate picture is seen as a bullish sign for the local market," said Peter Gioia, vice president of the Connecticut Business and Industry Association.

The "current conditions" component of the survey was recorded as 19.7 in the second quarter, up from 17.8 in the first quarter. Meanwhile, "future expectations" drew a reading of 24.3, up from 21.6 in the first part of the year.

Only 12 percent of survey respondents said Connecticut's economy could be rated "good" or "excellent" today.

Twenty percent, though, thought the economy would be hitting its stride in the third quarter.

The report pointed out that a decline in consumer spending so far in 2012 could put the damper on retail sales going forward. Only 19 percent of people polled found the current retail climate in Connecticut "good" or "excellent."

Meanwhile, a sluggish demand for labor statewide has resulted in hiring stagnation, according to the report.

"Employers seem to be adopting a 'wait and see' approach to permanent future hires given the heightened level of overall economic uncertainty," the report said. Only 7 percent of poll respondents characterized economic conditions overall as being rosy.

While exports have helped prop up the state's economy recently, the report warned that economic problems resulting from Europe's fiscal crisis could affect businesses going forward.

The survey was based on 86 respondents, including real estate professionals and economic-development experts from around the state.

Four key areas were considered: office, industrial, retail and investment real estate.

"Levels of consumer confidence and business confidence, as well as job growth, will be instrumental in determining the path of overall economic activity as we move through the balance of 2012," said Bruce Blasnik, a partner in the accounting firm O'Connor Davies Munns & Dobbins of Stamford, in a statement.

Source: http://www.theday.com/article/20120627/BIZ04/306279971/1044

State Real Estate Drop the Worst on Record

Home sales in Connecticut dropped 13 percent in 2011, making it the worst on record, according to The Warren Group, the preeminent compiler of real estate statistics in New England.

Sales of single-family homes in Connecticut dropped to 21,141 in 2011, down from 24,270 in 2010, according to Warren statistics. It marks the seventh straight year in which sales volume declined from the prior year.

Cheshire's real estate market, as shown by Sally Bowman Real Estate has 109 homes on the market as of mid-January. With an average of 2,594 square feet and 4 bedrooms, the average list price is about $478,000. Homes stay on the market for about seven months before selling.

State-wide, December's 1,714 single-family sales represented a nearly 8 percent year-over-year drop from 1,858 in December 2010.

Fourth quarter numbers were also down 6.5 percent year-over-year - 4,961 single-family home sales compared to 5,306 in the fourth quarter of 2010. It was the slowest fourth quarter for single-family sales ever recorded by The Warren Group.

Still, sales volume beat the first quarter 2011, when there were 3,950 sales, according to Warren's report.

December represented the fourth straight month that single-family sales decreased in Connecticut. In all of 2011, year-over-year sales volume only increased in January and August.

"The market in Connecticut is very slow. I think it's fair to say we are bumping along the bottom and can only go up from here," said Timothy M. Warren Jr., the chief executive officer of The Warren Group. "As the employment picture and consumer confidence improves, housing will slowly follow suit."

The median price for Connecticut single-family homes sold in 2011 was $243,000, a 2.8 percent drop from $250,000 in 2010. The median price for single-family homes sold in December dropped nearly 9.5 percent to $220,000, down from $243,000 during the same month in 2010.

That represents the lowest median home price in since February 2009, when the recorded price was $219,104. The median price for single-family homes sold during the fourth quarter decreased by 9 percent to $225,000, down from $247,500 in the fourth quarter 2010.

"December's decline in median prices is the sixth drop in 2011. So prices are still soft, reflecting a slow market," Warren said.

According to the Warren report, condominium sales fell to their lowest yearly total in more than two decades. A total of 5,704 Connecticut condominiums were sold in 2011, a 16.4 percent decrease from 2010, when 6,824 sales were recorded. Fourth quarter condo sales dropped 2 percent to 1,370 from the 1,401 recorded during the same time in 2010.

In the month of December, however, condo sales increased, Warren said. A total of 518 condos traded hands, a 12.6 percent jump from 460 sold during the same time a year ago. Year-over-year condo sales only increased in August and December.

That trend was seen in Cheshire as well, according to Sally Bowman Real Estate. The company reports 44 condos are on the market with an average list price of about $264,000. It takes about seven months for the average condo to sell in Cheshire.

Condo median prices also increased in 2011, the report indicates. The median price decreased more than 6 percent to $173,250, down from $182,250 in 2010. The median sales price of condos in December also dropped by almost 13 percent to $167,000, from $191,500 during December 2010.

Condo median prices dropped even further in the fourth quarter to $161,750, a 13.7 percent drop from $187,500 recorded in the fourth quarter 2010.

Source: http://cheshire.patch.com/articles/state-real-estate-drop-the-worst-on-record