Photo courtesy of Deanna Crooks
Deanna Crooks
President-Elect, Greater Hartford Association of Realtors
Industry experience: 15 years
Age: 53
The Hartford metro area was named Zillow’s hottest market for 2026, and Greater Hartford Association of Realtors President-Elect Deanna Crooks is in the middle of it.
It’s an upgrade from last year, when Hartford ranked fourth on Zillow’s 2025 predictions list. The year ended with more than 66 percent of homes selling above list price, leading all major metros, according to the listing portal’s economist team.
After outsiders flocked to Connecticut during the COVID-19 pandemic, inventory still remains low. This has caused local residents to ponder if they can afford to stay in the city or be forced to move elsewhere, Crooks said.
Q: What changes took place in Hartford over the last five years? And what about the Hartford housing market attracts an out-of-towner?
A: When COVID hit and people needed more bang for their buck, they did venture across state liens to Connecticut. From even personal experience, I had friends visit me from New York, and when they came to Connecticut, and at the time I was renting, and they were asking, “Oh, how much do you pay for rent? Oh my gosh, you have this much space for only that?” So when COVID happened people were trying to claim more space for themselves, because New York apartments are on top of each other. They are used to paying easily $800,000 to $900,000, and that’s just for an average-size house. So you come over to Connecticut and you say “Oh my gosh, this house is bigger than the one in New York. It’s only going to cost me $400,000? It’s okay I’ll pay you an extra $100,000 over asking.”
So that literally squeezed out our local buyers, because there’s no way they could match or compete with that kind of deep pocket coming from New York. Mind you, in the New York market, it would be different than competing with other New Yorkers for that price but when you come into an area where buyers are accustomed to seeing $400,000 or $500,000 and now you’re having to go up to eight, nine, and you know you’re offering $80,000 over but you’re still losing out. That, in itself, speaks volumes about the disparity between the two areas: disparity in the income and the access to the funds.
Most of the buyers in Hartford tend to use programs that give some kind of down payment assistance or any other kind of assistance with their funding. When you have buyers coming in from out-of-state with cash offers or even using conventional financing, sellers here look at that and, for them, it’s a no-brainier to pick the one which would give them almost a sure bet for closing. Because who wants to risk financing when you can easily close with cash? But even when you’re doing financing here, there’s such a stigma attached to certain types of programs that the buyers who have been historically marginalized are still left competing and losing out repeatedly, because it’s hard for them to match.
Q: With Greater Hartford becoming such a hot market, how have Hartford natives been dealing with the changes?
A: Well, there were quite a few clients who took advantage of the market and sold their properties, but then you found that they were selling more to investors. So, the people who are purchasing the properties weren’t necessarily homeowners or owner-occupant type buyers, they were investors looking to capture the properties. Even right before COVID hit, I think there was talk about changes coming to Hartford, and the infrastructure started to change back then and the taxes and assessments on the properties in Hartford went up. So a lot of existing homeowners back then felt like they were being pushed out. Then COVID hit, and that just compounded the problem.
The challenge for quite a few sellers or those who chose to stay is the assessed value would go up for tax purposes but then compared to selling, the appraisers will come out there and they’re not giving the true value the house is worth, so they’re still losing out on both ends. On one end, you’re taxed higher, on the other end you’re not getting the value so that you can sell and tap into your equity. I had actually encouraged quite a few of my clients to stay put if they could, because the Hartford market was growing, and the longer they stayed, the more equity they would build and the more value they would have in your property. Because even though taxes are going up and it’s seeming unaffordable to pay your mortgage each month, in the long term it will be worth it.
I almost hate to use this term, but it felt like gentrification was happening in Hartford, like what happened in New York with Soho. Certain areas just got flipped and it got elevated, and it was the place to be. I see that happening for Hartford, which is why, if I were there with a property in Hartford, I would hold on to it for as long as I could. Then when the market got to the point where I thought “Okay, I have built enough equity,” then you can make the decision, not because you’ve been pushed out because taxes are high, but because you’ve made a decision that now is the right time for you.
Q: What are your expectations for buyer activity and buyer competition for homes in 2026?
A: Well, I feel in my heart that the market is going to swing back a little bit more towards the buyers.
These past five years, they’ve had to deal with competing with cash and waiving contingencies. For me, that’s risky for a buyer. You want to make sure that you’re protected in case there’s some issue with the home that was unforeseen or unknown even to the seller, because you think you’re saving but at the end of the day, it may end up costing you. That frenzy is waning and houses are sitting on the market a little bit longer. You have a chance to actually have your home inspection and negotiate issues. Buyers are getting back some of that bargaining power.
What happened with the [NAR] settlement now, where buyers have to address their own commissions directly with their agents. Even though in Connecticut that has always been the case where buyers have their own agents and are responsible for their own commissions, and sellers have their own. It was such a part of negotiation process in the beginning, when the market was heavily leaning towards the buyer, that sellers would extend this payment to their buyer agent for the commission. But when the market changed, it became a seller’s market, that practice was still in place. With the lawsuit, it become even more enforced, where sellers were saying, “No, we’re not paying buyers agents that commission.” It’s usually “Okay help me out with the closing cost credits,” or they would get the down payment assistance or “Help me out with paying my agent a commission.” So, those were credits that sellers routinely extended over the years.
But with the switch that I already see coming, there will be such a resistance extending this credit to a buyer, whether for closing credit or credit towards their own agent commission. So more protections will be in place, not that we’re moving towards the buyer side. The only thing we need to work on is inventory, working on more available houses, so people can’t have options because everybody deserves a home.
Crooks’ Five Favorite Foods:
- Ackee and saltfish with roast breadfruit
- Naseberry
- June plum
- Jackfruit
- Guinep
