iStock illustration

Owners of higher-end homes are looking to sell are returning to the market in the Hartford area while owners of lower-end homes are holding back, according to new data released by Zillow.

Numbers of new listings in the bottom and second-lowest quintiles of the market, by price, were 17.3 percent down and 24.6 percent down year-over-year in June. At the same time, numbers of new listings in the middle fifth of the market were up 13.3 percent year-over-year, while numbers of new listings in the second-highest and highest quintiles of the market were up 7 percent and 3.9 percent, respectively.

The top three quintiles by price saw nearly all the growth in numbers of new listings in Greater Hartford between May and June: 26.5 percent growth (most expensive quintile), 32.9 percent growth (second-most expensive quintile) and 13.2 percent growth (middle quintile). The second-cheapest quintile saw the number of new listings grow by only 4.2 percent month-over-month while the cheapest quintile saw the number of new listings decline 2 percent.

It’s a trend Zillow researchers said was mirrored nationally, with new listings in the cheapest quintile 29 percent below where they were in June last year, with listings in the most-expensive fifth of the market down only 9 percent year-over-year. Zillow economist Jeff Tucker laid part of the blame on the uneven impact of the economic crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

“The way unemployment has hit in this recession – with more layoffs in service, retail, food, entertainment, and other jobs unable to be done remotely – could result in vastly different experiences on either end of the housing price spectrum,” Tucker said in a statement. “Millions of Americans who lost jobs or income are only able to stay in their homes right now thanks to extraordinary forbearance programs, which means they likely have to pause their plans to trade up or move to a new city. But for wealthier homeowners whose employment has remained stable and are looking to trade up, now may be an opportune time to sell and lock in a record-low mortgage rate on their dream home.”