Residential Real Estate

Price Gains, Supply ‘Wiped Clean’: CT’s Year in Home Sales
By James Sanna | February 2, 2023 | Reprints | Unlock Link
The past 12 months in Connecticut’s real estate market have been nothing if not confounding to truisms about market behavior commonly held among industry observers.
Buyers: Know Your Share
By Lew Sichelman | February 1, 2023 | Reprints | Unlock Link
Many of the nation’s largest real estate firms still do not publish the share of the commission paid to agents who work with homebuyers, leaving buyers to fend for themselves.

Fairfield County Among Nation’s Major Migration Destinations
By James Sanna | January 31, 2023 | Reprints | Unlock Link
Fairfield County was Connecticut’s biggest winner last year when it came to attracting new residents from out of state, and one of the nation’s migration hot spots as well.

CT Homeowners Enjoying Double-Digit Profits
By James Sanna | January 30, 2023 | Reprints | Unlock Link
New research from real estate data firm ATTOM Data Solutions suggests that home-sellers in Connecticut are continuing to enjoy substantial returns.

Lower Rates Could Be Bringing More Buyers Out
By James Sanna | January 26, 2023 | Reprints | Unlock Link
Falling mortgage could be bringing out more homebuyers, according to a handful of new data reports.
Tax Appeal May Bring Big Savings
By Lew Sichelman | January 26, 2023 | Reprints | Unlock Link
Property taxes are rising right along with the cost of food, gas and other necessities. One main difference: You won’t have to wait for inflation to come down to lower your property taxes.

CT Capital Gains Tax Hike Floated
By Susan Haigh | The Associated Press | January 23, 2023 | Reprints | Unlock Link
Progressive Connecticut lawmakers are proposing a higher tax rate on capital gains earnings for wealthy taxpayers and higher personal income tax rates for millionaires.

Majority of Hartford Homes Still Sell Above List Price
By James Sanna | January 20, 2023 | Reprints | Unlock Link
Most Hartford-area homes sold above list price in November according to a new report from listings portal Zillow.

2023 Outlook for Remodeling Cools
By James Sanna | January 19, 2023 | Reprints | Unlock Link
Higher home prices, recession fears and the near-death of the refinance market are likely to spell a significant slowdown in homeowners’ remodeling spending this year, researchers say.
Sellers Should Consider a Buydown to Snag a Buyer
By Lew Sichelman | January 19, 2023 | Reprints | Unlock Link
With the inventory of unsold houses rising on a daily basis, it’s time for sellers to consider taking a page out of the homebuilders’ playbook – especially when it comes to financing.

CT, Florida Brokerages Link Up
January 18, 2023 | Reprints | Unlock Link
Central Connecticut’s Century 21 AllPoints Realty announced it is merging with another Century 21 brokerage serving the Florida panhandle.

Q&A: Redfin CEO Sees Buyer-Seller ‘Standoff’ in 2023
By Alex Veiga | The Associated Press | January 17, 2023 | Reprints | Unlock Link
Soaring mortgage rates knocked the housing market into a deep slump in 2022, and the prospects of a swift turnaround in 2023 look dim, especially with the average rate on the benchmark 30-year mortgage still hovering above 6 percent, or double what it was this time last year.

Hartford Is Nation’s Only Market with Inventory Decline
By James Sanna | January 13, 2023 | Reprints | Unlock Link
Unlike every other major housing market in America, only Greater Hartford saw a year-over-year drop in homes for sale last month. It suggests homes aren’t piling up unsold.
Taking Buying, Selling to New Heights
By Lew Sichelman | January 12, 2023 | Reprints | Unlock Link
Two hot new trends in real estate – designing and buying a custom home sight-unseen, and having your home renovations paid for by someone else – could become forces in 2023’s housing market.

CT NestSeekers Agent Jumps to William Pitt Sotheby’s
January 10, 2023 | Reprints | Unlock Link
Dana Flanagan, an agent with international luxury brokerage NestSeekers, is leaving that firm for not one, but two separate Sotheby’s International Realty brokerages.

One Pandemic-Era Tech Tool for Realtors Beat Out All Others
By James Sanna | January 6, 2023 | Reprints | Unlock Link
A new survey by the National Association of Realtors says one of the many tech upgrades real estate agents embraced during the pandemic has outstripped all others in its long-term usefulness: electronic documents.

Lamont to Seek Tax Cut in Second Term
By Susan Haigh | Commercial Record Staff | January 5, 2023 | Reprints | Unlock Link
Sworn into office for a second four-year term, Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont on Wednesday called on state legislators to pass a “meaningful middle class tax cut,” saying it’s time for the state to refocus on economic growth and opportunity
Higher Credit Report Fees Hit Homebuyers
By Lew Sichelman | January 5, 2023 | Reprints | Unlock Link
As if rising mortgage rates and high house prices aren’t enough, some homebuyers are going to have to contend with credit reports that will cost 400 percent more in 2023 than it did in 2022.

Gov. Ned Lamont Sworn in for Second Term
By Susan Haigh | The Associated Press | January 4, 2023 | Reprints | Unlock Link
As Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont embarks on a second term in office Wednesday, he faces a larger majority of fellow Democrats in the General Assembly and a rosier state budget picture compared to when he first took office in 2019, given the state’s record cash reserves and a projected $1 billion operating surplus.

Zillow: Backyards, Mirrored Walls Will Be Must-Have Home Features
By James Sanna | January 3, 2023 | Reprints | Unlock Link
Who’s ready for a 1970s flashback? Get ready for more buyers in search of mirrored walls, home design trend experts at Zillow said in their annual survey of what they think will be top of buyers’ wish lists in 2023.