From tony Greenwich to tiny Voluntown, Connecticut’s residential real estate market saw pockets of growth in 2018.
While statewide sales of single-family homes and condominiums remained mostly flat compared to 2017, places like Stamford, Bridgeport, the Greater New Haven area and the Naugatuck Valley had more sales or higher median prices in 2018. Among the factors motivating buyers last year were access to amenities and affordability.
Overall in Connecticut, the number of sales for single-family homes went down slightly compared to 2017, by 1.9 percent, according to a new report from real estate data analytics firm The Warren Group, publisher of The Commercial Record. The median sale price statewide went up 3.2 percent to $258,000. The number of condominium sales remained nearly unchanged in 2018, with the median sale price increasing by 1.2 percent to $165,000.
Demand Strengthens in Cities
Some of the strongest demand for residential real estate was in Connecticut’s cities, including Stamford, Norwalk, New Haven and Bridgeport.
“People are looking to have some walkability to restaurants, shops and services,” New Haven-area RE/MAX agent Steven Miller said. “I think that’s driving some people back toward the cities.”
| County | Single-Family Sales | Change from 2017 | Median Sale Price | Change from 2017 | Percent of Statewide Sales |
| Fairfield | 8,235 | -1.14% | $452,000 | 0.44% | 24.51% |
| Hartford | 8,457 | -2.94% | $227,000 | 4.24% | 25.17% |
| Litchfield | 2,197 | 2.86% | $230,000 | 2.22% | 6.54% |
| Middlesex | 1,861 | -4.61% | $270,000 | 2.86% | 5.54% |
| New Haven | 7,525 | 0.70% | $227,500 | 4.36% | 22.40% |
| New London | 2,706 | -6.40% | $230,000 | 4.07% | 8.06% |
| Tolland | 1,504 | -0.07% | $223,000 | 1.83% | 4.48% |
| Windham | 1,109 | -12.05% | $191,400 | 6.93% | 3.30% |
| Statewide | 33,594 | -1.94% | $258,000 | 3.24% | 100% |
The median sale price for single-family homes in New Haven increased to $179,000, up 6.6 percent, and the number of condominium sales increased by 21.4 percent in 2018.
Stamford also saw strong demand last year. The city’s vibrancy and easy access to amenities appeal to Baby Boomers and Millennials, the city’s two largest demographics, said Tammy Felenstein, executive director of sales at Halstead Holdings LLC.
“It doesn’t surprise me that Stamford is one of the only cities or towns in Connecticut that has an increasing population,” Felenstein said. “We have a very high demand being drawn closer and closer to downtown.”
The number of single-family home sales rose 8.3 percent, and the median sale price went up 3.6 percent to $575,000. For condominiums, the median sale price rose by 5.4 percent to $320,000.
People attracted to the downtown lifestyle were not Stamford’s only buyers in 2018. High-end homes over $1 million and houses priced around $600,000 throughout the city have been selling, Felenstein said.
Bridgeport’s South End is home to the University of Bridgeport. Image courtesy of Google Maps
Investors Buy Bridgeport Rentals
Stamford’s rental market has also grown in recent years, a trend seen in New Haven and Bridgeport as well. In Bridgeport, rentals played a key role in driving the condominium market, said Daniel D. Thomas, a local RE/MAX agent.
Investors from New York and Connecticut have been buying condominiums and renting to students from the University of Bridgeport and to others looking to live in a city that has “something for everyone,” Thomas said. The median sale price for Bridgeport’s condominiums rose 23.5 percent to $93,000 in 2018.
Thomas said Bridgeport has a low inventory of quality single-family homes right now, with some houses on the market for less than two weeks, though still affordable for many first-time homebuyers.
“I do believe it’s a seller’s market with buyer’s prices, and they continue to increase,” Thomas said. “We continue to see bidding wars on anything that’s good.”
Buyers Look to Naugatuck Valley for Affordability
Affordability is driving demand in the Greater New Haven area as well. Several towns and cities saw an increase in the median sale price or the number of sales.
Miller, the RE/MAX agent in the area, attributed the demand to buyers looking for single-family homes priced around $350,000 or less.
“There’s value in some of those properties now more than ever before,” Miller said.
| Community | Number of Sales | Change from 2017 | Median Sale Price | Change from 2017 |
| Waterbury | 798 | 2.84% | $118,000 | 11.85% |
| Naugatuck | 303 | -1.62% | $186,500 | 12.18% |
| Beacon Falls | 58 | 7.41% | $215,000 | -11.98% |
| Seymour | 185 | 3.93% | $240,000 | 10.65% |
| Ansonia | 160 | -3.61% | $195,000 | 11.43% |
| Shelton | 390 | 3.17% | $323,475 | 2.69% |
| Derby | 91 | 30.00% | $190,000 | 5.56% |
Higher-priced homes have been lingering on the market, Miller said, and the construction of new homes, priced at $400,000 or more, is limited. He added that buyers in the area remain cautious about buying homes that could lose value.With a median sale price of $205,000, the town of Hamden saw the number of sales increase by 21.8 percent. North Branford’s sales went up 18.6 percent, and in East Haven, the median sale price rose to $207,500, up 16.6 percent.
Until recently, cautious buyers contributed to a slow residential real estate market in the Naugatuck Valley, said Linda Mayfield with Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage. Several communities saw increases in the number of sales or median price in 2018, including Naugatuck, Waterbury, Ansonia and Derby.
The area’s housing inventory, including foreclosures, declined within the past year, Mayfield said, helping to spur the market. Most of the buyers she sees are Millennials between the ages of 23 and 38, who cannot afford to buy in Fairfield County
| Connecticut’s Most Expensive Markets | |||||
| Community | Single-Family Sales | Change from 2017 | Median Sale Price | Change from 2017 | |
| Greenwich | 522 | 10.36% | $1,604,500 | 0.44% | |
| Darien | 257 | -12.88% | $1,330,000 | -2.56% | |
| New Canaan | 207 | -7.59% | $1,325,000 | -10.02% | |
| Westport | 388 | -4.67% | $1,190,500 | -0.79% | |
| Wilton | 189 | -12.09% | $770,000 | 9.61% | |
Some of the suburbs in Fairfield County, including Darien, New Canaan and Westport, saw reductions in the number of sales and median sale price in 2018. But Greenwich saw sales increase by 10.4 percent. The median sale price of $1.6 million was nearly the same as 2017.
Joy Kim Metalios, a William Raveis agent in Greenwich, said her team had its best year for sales in 2018. Being closer to New York City and Westchester County gives the town an advantage over other Gold Coast suburbs, she said. Greenwich has many of the same amenities as a city, and she sees both Millennials and Baby Boomers looking to move closer to the center of town.
Metalios pointed out that Greenwich’s inventory rose last year, making it more of a buyer’s market. With interest rates still relatively low, buying is a better option than renting in Greenwich’s high-end market, she said.
| Fastest-Growing Single-Family Prices | ||||
| Community | 2018 Median Sale Price | Change from 2017 | 2018 Sales | Change from2017 |
| Voluntown | $229,500 | 63.06% | 38 | 26.67% |
| Cornwall | $305,000 | 37.08% | 21 | 16.67% |
| Norfolk | $355,000 | 30.76% | 18 | 0% |
| Franklin | $250,000 | 24.38% | 17 | -19.05% |
| Coventry | $225,000 | 21.29% | 181 | -3.72% |
| Griswold | $193,000 | 16.62% | 83 | -1.19% |
| East Haven | $207,500 | 16.57% | 308 | -13.97% |
| Killingworth | $377,500 | 16.13% | 94 | -1.05% |
| Putnam | $181,000 | 16.03% | 94 | -8.74% |
| Plainfield | $172,925 | 15.83% | 138 | -11.54% |
Prices Jump 63 Percent in Voluntown
On the opposite end of the state, Voluntown, with a population of about 2,600, showed that Connecticut still has a market for small-town living. The median sale price jumped 63.1 percent to $229,500 in Voluntown, and the number of sales increased by 26.7 percent.
Voluntown is located in the northern section of New London County, and part of the Pachaug State Forest sits within the town. Sales in 2018 included waterfront properties on large ponds, houses adjacent to the forest and secluded homes with two to five acres of land.
Nearby Griswold, which also has waterfront property, saw the median sale price increase by 16.6 percent to $193,000. The median sale price for all of New London County was $230,000.
Affordability was one of the key drivers for buyers in this area; people are “willing to travel farther to work to buy a home,” Susy Hurlbert, CEO of the Eastern Connecticut Association of Realtors, wrote in an email.
“There is a high demand for affordable homes – median price range or lower,” Hurlbert wrote. “And this price point is predominantly what you find in towns like Voluntown and Preston.”
