Business & Tech
The High and Low of the 2009 Real Estate Market
Prices of homes sold in New Canaan last year ranged from $400,000 to $7 million.
The high was not so high and the low lower in New Canaan's real estate market compared to past years.
Top honors in 2009 go to a stately 1930s brick manor house on 7.5 acres on North Wilton Road that went for $7 million. That's significantly less than the high price point in 2008 when the most a single family home sold for was $11 million.
The property was listed in May 2009, just when the local real estate market began to show renewed signs of life. There was immediate interest in the home from a variety of local and out-of-area buyers.
The rare estate offering, sited on one of the largest single parcels in New Canaan, included a fully renovated 8,300-square-foot brick main house with handsome details reminiscent of a bygone era. The house was further enhanced with superb amenities including a three-bedroom cottage, two-bedroom apartment, a four-car garage, greenhouse, heated pool and pool house.
The home was also priced realistically. Offered at $7,995,000 it was considered a good value from the beginning and a once in a lifetime opportunity with its hard-to-replicate vintage, condition, acreage and prime location. In a year when the luxury end of the market was slow to sell, this stunning residence sold in 141 days for 88 percent of its asking price.
At the opposite end of the spectrum, New Canaan's lowest sale of the year was a charming 1,250-square-foot home with .14 acres on Urban Street that traded at $400,000. The home had been on the market since 2007, originally asking $675,000. After a number of price reductions this house closed in April, which in hindsight was most likely the bottom of the market.
Built in 1971, the walk-to-town home with three bedrooms and one bathroom offered expansion opportunities and represented the best value in New Canaan for the year, selling at very close to its assessed value. This Urban Street home was the least expensive single family home sale in New Canaan in years. In 2006 the low point was a house that sold for $475,000.
Martha Perry's real estate column appears each Friday in New Canaan Patch. She is an agent with William Pitt Sotheby's in New Canaan.
