Sales and prices of condominiums in Connecticut have both increased in recent days. A unit in this property at 550 Prospect St. in New Haven is currently listed at $139,000.

In Litchfield County, $750,000 will get you a five-bedroom house on almost five acres. But travel about 50 miles south to Fairfield County, closer to the Long Island Sound, and that same amount of money is the median price for condominiums.

It doesn’t come as a surprise to most Connecticut residents or real estate agents that towns like Westport and New Canaan showed median prices for condominiums in 2004 to be far above the median prices for single-family homes in most other communities in the state. In Westport, a Shoreline community, 61 condos were sold in 2004 for a median price of $744,000, according to statistics from The Warren Group, the parent company of The Commercial Record. That is the highest median price in the state, a 22.5 percent increase from 2003’s prices, when 46 condos sold for a median price of $607,500.

New Canaan’s 2004 median price was the second highest in the state, at $652,500 for 76 condos sold. That is up about 22 percent from 2003, when 85 condos were sold with a median price of $535,000.

Condos have been “extremely hot” in Fairfield County over the past three or so years, said Diana Gould, a sales executive at Prudential Connecticut Realty’s Stamford office. In most communities, prices for condos have been increasing faster than prices for single-family homes, according to Gould.

“Prices have gone up incredibly,” she said.

The biggest market for condos in Fairfield County is usually Stamford and Norwalk, Gould said. Prices for condos there are far below those in surrounding towns like Westport, New Canaan, Greenwich, Ridgefield and Darien – the five communities with the highest median prices in 2004. But the markets in Stamford and Norwalk are indeed active, and prices have been going up. In 2004, 1,169 condos were sold in Stamford, with a median price of $264,000. That is an increase of about 12 percent from 2003, when 1,070 condos were sold with a median price of $235,000.

Norwalk showed a big increase in sales from 2003 to 2004, with 818 condos sold in 2004 with a median price of $266,250. In 2003, 598 condos were sold with a median price of $240,000. The price increased about 11 percent from one year to the next.

The condo market in Greenwich was also fairly active, and the town also had the third-highest median price in the state. Last year, 268 condos were sold in Greenwich with a median price of $575,000, an increase of 8.5 percent from 2003, when 232 condos were sold with a median price of $530,000.

‘A Very Good Year’

Condos have been popular across the board in Fairfield County, according to Gould.

“Who’s buying? Just about everybody,” she said.

Gould said she is seeing single professionals, young couples, families and older people looking to downsize all on the market for a condo. And the properties don’t stay on the market for long, especially if they are in good condition.

Danbury and Bridgeport also showed strong condo markets in 2004, with a high number of sales and substantial increases in the median price. The median price in Bridgeport increased 24 percent from 2003 to 2004, with 546 sold in 2003 having a median price of $96,500 and 613 sold in 2004 commanding a median price of $120,000.

Danbury saw an increase in median price of about 17 percent from one year to the next, with 803 condos sold in 2003 commanding a median price of $195,000 and 753 sold in 2004 owning a median price of $228,000.

Communities in New Haven County also saw price increases and healthy condo sales in 2004, especially in places like New Haven, Branford and Milford.

“We do feel that the prices continue to go up,” said Maureen Campbell, vice president at North Haven-based H. Pearce Real Estate Co.

The median prices are up, especially in towns that have a lot of condos, like Branford, where the price increased by almost 15 percent from 2003 to 2004. In 2003, 366 condos with a median price of $149,000 were sold there. Last year, 364 were sold; they had a median price of $170,000.

The number of condo listings in the county is also up dramatically, Campbell said, although overall sales are up less dramatically, by about 2 percent. Sales in New Haven were up, though.

“Condos have enjoyed a very good year,” said Nelly Odenwalder, manager of H. Pearce’s New Haven office and a senior vice president.

The city saw the sale of 439 condos in 2004 with a median price of $125,000, compared to 2003, when 323 condos sold with a median price of $114,900. The median price increased about 9 percent from one year to the next.

Odenwalder said she expects to see the same sort of increase in 2005. Condos are appreciating at a good rate, she said. In New Haven, they often sell quickly and for good prices.

“It seems, with the interest rates low, people can afford them,” she said.

Three-bedroom condos in the city are in high demand now, but even one- and two-bedrooms have been popular. The competition in the city, which has recently gone through a revitalization, is mainly apartments. New luxury apartments and lofts have come on the market in the past year.

“We’re being flooded with apartments at the moment,” Odenwalder said.

But she hopes that, in the next few years, some of those might convert to condos. It would be good for New Haven, she said.

“There’s a sense of permanence when people buy,” Odenwalder said.