Industry News
Presidential Plans Raise Anxiety in Housing Sector
By Lew Sichelman | March 27, 2025 | Reprints | Unlock LinkIn the market for a newly constructed house? You might want to hurry. Soon, new homes are likely to cost more and take longer to build.

Diverse Workforces Drive Design Changes
By Steve Adams | Commercial Record Staff | March 27, 2025 | Reprints | Unlock LinkAfter studying psychology in college, Katherine Berger pursued architecture as a career but never lost her fascination with human behavior and its implications, which she now deploys as director of interior design at New Haven-based architects Svigals + Partners.

Hartford Home-Flippers See Second-Biggest ROI Decrease in 2024
By James Sanna | March 26, 2025 | Reprints | Unlock LinkAnyone who’s in the business of renovating and selling homes in the area around Connecticut’s capital city didn’t have a great year in 2024, at least compared to their peers.

CEO Out at Struggling Stamford-Based Bank After $50M Capital Raise
By James Sanna | March 26, 2025 | Reprints | Unlock LinkPatriot Bank, the Stamford-based lender that was labeled as “troubled” by financial regulators late last year, is now losing its CEO.

Convenience Store Chain Eyes Expansion in Connecticut
By Steve Adams | Commercial Record Staff | March 25, 2025 | Reprints | Unlock LinkA chain of gas station-sited convenience stores will open its 10th Connecticut location in Rocky Hill after inking a lease at 944 Cromwell Ave.

NAR Keeps Pocket Listing Policy, Adds New Wrinkle
By Sam Minton | March 25, 2025 | Reprints | Unlock LinkThe National Association of Realtors’ anti-pocket listing policy is here to stay, the trade group announced Tuesday morning. But it’s got new options.

Prepping Hartford Ex-Power Plant for Housing Could Cost Up to $450M
By James Sanna | March 24, 2025 | Reprints | Unlock LinkA preliminary study of how Hartford could repurpose its old waste-to-energy plant along the Connecticut River says costs vary widely, depending on how and when it’s done, and what the goal is.

Greater Hartford Adding New Housing Far Faster than Nation
By Sam Minton | March 24, 2025 | Reprints | Unlock LinkNationally there’s a noteworthy downturn in multifamily construction. In the Hartford area, new data suggests just the opposite.

Fed Sees Tariffs Raising Inflation, But Keeps Key Rate Unchanged
By Christopher Rugaber | The Associated Press | March 20, 2025 | Reprints | Unlock LinkCentral bankers also took steps that could drive down mortgage rates as the spring housing market opens.

CT Banks Winning Bigger Slice of CRE Pie
By Sam Minton | March 20, 2025 | Reprints | Unlock LinkIn a year that saw banks take up a larger chunk of the commercial real estate lending pool, local and regional banks were among the top CRE lenders in Connecticut.

Northeast Homebuilder Confidence an Outlier Amid National Dip
By James Sanna | March 19, 2025 | Reprints | Unlock LinkNationwide homebuilder confidence hit the lowest level in seven months, according to the industry’s biggest trade group. But builders in the Northeast are notably more optimistic.

‘Stagflation’ Risk Puts Fed in Tricky Spot as It Meets This Week
By Christopher Rugaber | The Associated Press | March 18, 2025 | Reprints | Unlock LinkWhen Federal Reserve officials last met, hiring was solid. The economy had just grown at a solid pace in last year’s final quarter. And inflation had fallen sharply. What a difference seven weeks makes.

New England Continues to See Inventory Drop
By Sam Minton | March 17, 2025 | Reprints | Unlock LinkHeading into the spring home-sales market, inventory in New England’s biggest metro areas had fallen even further behind last year.

Storrs Development Site Acquired for Big Student Housing Project
By James Sanna | March 17, 2025 | Reprints | Unlock LinkA 1.56-acre site near the main University of Connecticut campus in Storrs could soon become home to over 700 students under plans announced by a Georgia housing developer.

Cheshire Orchard Sells for $3.2M
By James Sanna | March 13, 2025 | Reprints | Unlock LinkA popular Cheshire orchard is on track to re-open following its sale to a new operator.

Developer Wants to Replace Much of Simsbury Mall with Apartments
By James Sanna | March 12, 2025 | Reprints | Unlock LinkReal estate firm Northpath Investments has filed an application with Simsbury officials to replace much of the town’s Simsbury Commons shopping center with a multifamily development.

Trump Admin Halts $1B in Funding for Affordable Housing Upgrades
By Jesse Bedayn | The Associated Press | March 12, 2025 | Reprints | Unlock LinkThe Green and Resilient Retrofit Program pays for for energy-efficiency improvements, but those are often the centerpiece of larger renovations at decaying affordable housing complexes.

Stamford-Based Mortgage Company Relocating to NYC
By James Sanna | March 11, 2025 | Reprints | Unlock LinkTomo Mortgage, located in Stamford’s Harbor Point neighborhood, is moving just a few years after Gov. Ned Lamont touted the company’s arrival in Stamford as a sign of better times for its office sector.

Hartford Lost Wealthy Renters as Nation Gained Them
By James Sanna | March 11, 2025 | Reprints | Unlock LinkMany U.S. metropolitan areas have seen wealthy renters take up a bigger piece of the rental market in recent years. But the Hartford area isn’t one of them.

Hartford Tops List of Nation’s Hottest Housing Markets
By Sam Minton | March 10, 2025 | Reprints | Unlock LinkNew England boasts some of the hottest markets in the nation according to a new report from Realtor.com.