Business & Tech
Real Estate Market Review: Feb. 21-27, 2011
New Canaan real estate activity & statistics, and a look at the new properties that came to market last week.
NEWS BLAST !!!
Wall Street Journal • "Wealthy Areas Again See Rise in Home Prices" (Another example of the ever-increasing positive news out in the marketplace regarding housing in our area :)
"In Fairfield County, Conn., home to many finance professionals and other Manhattan commuters, sales showed signs of rebounding last year, albeit after a sluggish 2009. For eight towns in lower Fairfield County, combined sales were up 26% in 2010 over the previous year. One of the best performers was New Canaan, where sales were up (41% per NCMLS) and the fourth-quarter median price rose 11% year over year. No one here is talking about a double dip!"
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If You Have to Ask, You Can't 'Afford' It . . . or Can You ?
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There is at least one benefit to the challenged housing market: "Buying a home has become much more affordable" per the National Association of Home Builders. In fact, NAHB proposes that throughout the nation, home affordability hit a record high in the last quarter of 2010. Their index found that 73.9% of all new and existing homes sold between October and December 2010 were affordable for families earning close to or above the national median income.
Nationally, the median home price was $169,000 while the median family income was $46,400. In the New York metropolitan area, where everything is more expensive and housing is no exception, only about a quarter of the homes sold were affordable to families earning the median wage.
New York's median home price was $426,000 while the median family income was $65,600 — wages were only 27% above the national median, while housing was 250% higher, making the affordability equation rather lopsided.
Now, let's chat further about affordability here in New Canaan. Our town is one of the most affluent communities in the United States. CNN Money ranked New Canaan first in the nation with the highest median family income at $231,138 and the median home price at $1,465,000. The cost of housing is approximately six times income, in median mode. In the national average, housing is nearly 3 1/2 times median income, and New York's median housing is nearly seven times the median wage. New Canaan is close to NY and probably on par with the rest of the metro area.
Despite the disparity in national comparisons of affordability, the good news is that even for our area, the National Association of Home Builders' premise of current affordability is correct. From 2005 to the end of 2010 the median income has risen 35%, while the median home price has dropped by 7%. And it is no secret that on average home prices have dropped anywhere from 20 to 30% during this past housing downturn.
It is the BEST time to buy in our lovely little village — housing remains more affordable than ever, and the quality of life could not be better than in New Canaan — a town that many have ranked "one of the best places to live."
New Canaan Real Estate Market Activity • Reviewing the Week of February 21
Above to the right are photos of new market offerings listed this past week, and below are the statistics for market activity.
NEW SINGLE FAMILY RESIDENTIAL LISTINGS - photos & pricing displayed above
# of Properties 7 Listing Property Volume $15,779,400Listing Property Median $ 1,995,500
ACTIVE SINGLE FAMILY RESIDENTIAL LISTINGS
# of Properties 178 Listing Property Volume $515,952,248 Listing Property Median $ 2,295,000 Average Days on Market 194SINGLE FAMILY RESIDENTIAL LISTINGS UNDER CONTRACT
# of Properties 1 Pending Property Volume $ 1,225,000 Pending Property Median $ 1,225,000 Average Days on Market 167SINGLE FAMILY RESIDENTIAL LISTINGS CLOSED
# of Properties 2 Closed Property Volume $ 3,820,000 Closed Property Average $ 1,910,000 Average Days on Market 634Source: FLEX New Canaan Multiple Listing Service
2 Property Transfers • Week of February 21st
52 Parade Hill Lane . $2,145,000 . Hoffman to Ernst . 1,015 DOM
331 Dan's Highway . $1,675,000 . Whittington to Rauevet & Neuhaus . 253 DOM
Source: New Canaan Town Hall, NC MLS
Sneak Peek • See tomorrow morning's post of The Real Deal for this weekend's Public Open House information, plus The Open House Field Guide. The Real Deal's new feature, The Big Deal, will post on Sunday — please check back!
Thank you for reading my column on New Canaan Patch – real estate is always a favorite topic, and The Real Deal now has three posts weekly! Many thanks for the salutary comments – they really are much appreciated, as is your readership. Suggestions continue to be most welcome.
Always my best, Regina
