Ken DelVecchio
The Connecticut Association of Realtors has named Ken DelVecchio of Fairfield as the 2007 State Realtor of the Year.
CAR presented DelVecchio with the award at the CAR Leadership Conference held at the Omni New Haven Hotel at Yale on Nov. 27. He is president-elect for CAR and a member of the association’s Finance and Issues Advocacy committees. He also sits on the association’s Executive Committee and board of directors.
The State Realtor of the Year award is given to one Realtor who the association determines has shown commitment, leadership and dedication to the trade association at the local, state and national levels. DelVecchio sits on the National Association of Realtors board of directors and served as regional representative of the State and Local Issues Committee in 2006.
Three Counties’ Sales Up
While October’s statewide condo sales sagged by 8.99 percent, sales in Fairfield and New London counties surged ahead by 21.68 percent and 69.05 percent, respectively, according to data from The Warren Group, The Commercial Record’s parent company.
Fairfield County had 348 condo sales in October, versus 286 in October last year. Likewise, New London County’s condo sales hit 71 in October, up from 42 sales a year ago. Tolland County was the only other county to post a gain, up 27.27 percent to 42 from 33 a year ago.
Statewide, the number of sales in October dropped to 1,113 from 1,223 a year ago. Litchfield, New Haven and Middlesex counties posted the largest percentage declines of 40.35 percent, 33.53 percent and 28.38 percent, respectively.
The statewide median price for condos increased by 12.17 percent in October, climbing to $212,000 versus $189,000 for the same month last year. In Fairfield County, which leads the state in number of sales, the median condo price dipped 1.55 percent in October to $285,000. In Hartford County, which has the second-highest number of condo sales, the median price gained 13.59 percent in October to $189,700.
Foreclosures Costing Billions
The growing wave of foreclosures is projected to cost metro areas around the state billions of dollars, according to a new study.
“The foreclosure crisis will have profound economic effects in 2008,” states the report, prepared by Lexington, Mass.-based Global Insight. The data firm prepared the report for the U.S. Conference of Mayors and The Council for the New American City.
“U.S. [gross domestic product] will be $166 billion lower as a result, because new residential investment will be weaker, lowering spending and income across the construction industries, and because consumer spending is curtailed as homeowners respond to decreased home equity wealth,” predicted the study. “Both of these spending impacts have multiplier effects across the economy as lower incomes decrease demand for other goods and services.”
In addition to looking at the effects on a national level, the study projected the impact of foreclosures at the metro level.
The hit on the gross metropolitan product for Bridgeport-Stamford-Norwalk in 2008 is $873.6 million; Greater Hartford, $1.26 billion; and New Haven-Milford, $661.5 million, according to the report. Norwich-New London is not forecast to have a significant decline.
Nationally, the report forecasts there will be 524,000 fewer jobs created in 2008. Homeowners will see property values decline by $1.2 trillion next year.
On its own, the combination of weaker market demand and large inventories of homes for sale would have reduced values by $676 billion in 2008, according to the report. But the report also stated that, with the foreclosure and mortgage crisis added to the mix, home values will decline an additional $519 billion. Foreclosures in 2008 will increase by at least 1.4 million. Those homes represent a market value of $316 billion.
