Inman

Connecticut home sales dive 16%

Sales of single-family homes in Connecticut fell by 16.4 percent in July, the 11th straight month sales were below the comparable year-before period. The median price of single-family homes continued to increase modestly, rising 0.4 percent, according to a report released today by The Warren Group, which tracks real estate data across New England.

A total of 3,774 single-family homes changed hands in July, down from 4,516 sales the previous year, and the median sale price of single-family homes increased to $296,250 in July from $295,000 in the prior-year period.

Condominium sales dropped 4.7 percent, with 1,446 units sold, and the median sale price rose 2.9 percent to $197,500 compared with the same month last year.

Each of Connecticut’s eight counties has seen single-family home sales fall the first seven months of 2006. Fairfield County continues to trail the pack, with sales dropping 20.6 percent for the year-to-date period and 30.2 percent in July. Tolland, one of the state’s smallest counties, saw sales fall by the smallest margin, 3.5 percent. Windham, New Haven, Litchfield and Middlesex counties all posted double-digit percentage declines in single-family home sales.

Median home-sale prices, meanwhile, continued to rise in each county for the seven-month period. New Haven County posted the strongest gain: 10.9 percent, to $255,000. Litchfield County’s median sale price was the only one to fall in July, by 9.4 percent, bringing the county’s year-to-date median sale price gain down to 0.4 percent. Fairfield County’s median sale price rose 6.2 percent during the first seven months; its $555,000 median sale price is nearly twice as high as the next highest county’s, Middlesex, at $287,900.

Six of Connecticut’s eight counties saw condo sales fall during the first seven months of the year. Windham County experienced the biggest percentage drop — 16.4 percent — followed closely by Litchfield (13.6 percent), Fairfield (12.8 percent), and Middlesex and New Haven counties (both 12.7 percent). Tolland and New London posted the only increases, at 8.4 and 6.2 percent, respectively. Tolland County’s unit sales rose 31.6 percent in July.

Condo median sale prices rose in each of the eight counties for the seven-month period. New London’s 24.3 percent hike, to $195,000, led the pack, while New Haven County (up 2.3 percent to $162,700) and Fairfield (up 2.7 percent to $295,000) posted the smallest increases. Fairfield County’s condo median sale price remains the state’s highest, while Litchfield’s is the state’s lowest at $152,000.