iStock photo

Two of Connecticut’s major housing markets saw an uptick in new construction’s share of units sold in the third quarter, according to new data released by Redfin.

In Greater Hartford, 8.8 percent of third-quarter home sales were new construction, compared to 7.4 percent in the third quarter of 2021.

In Fairfield County – called “Bridgeport” in the Redfin report – the jump was similar: from 6.1 percent to 7.3 percent over the same period.

Nationally, new construction’s share of all units sold in the third quarter was up to 29 percent, the largest annual increase since 2013 and up from 25 percent in the third quarter of 2021 and 18 percent in the third quarter of 2020.

The increase is part of a longer-term trend, Redfin researchers said, that’s intensifying due to a surge in construction during the pandemic and a slowdown in the listing of existing homes.

The dramatic slowdown in demand seen in pandemic-era boomtowns across the Sun Belt has left some homebuilders in a lurch, Redfin said.

In El Paso, Texas, newly built single-family homes made up half of all homes for sale in the third quarter—the highest share among the 80 major metros with sufficient data that Redfin analyzed. Next came Oklahoma City (43 percent), Omaha, Nebraska (40 percent), Raleigh, North Carolina (39 percent) and Houston (37 percent).

With a glut of inventory on their hands, builders will likely ease up on construction in 2023, according to Redfin Deputy Chief Economist Taylor Marr.

“Homebuilders will take on fewer new projects next year as they focus on getting their existing projects sold,” Marr said in a statement. “Builders will also shift more toward multifamily units, for which there is still relatively high demand because rents remain high.”