[BigHouse9]

How is the Hartford area housing market doing? Are the prices coming down? Are houses sitting longer because people still think they can get more for them? Any info would be appreciated.

[skytrekker]

BH- The Hartford housing market is holding up well-
from yesterdays Courant

Connecticut's housing market continued to hold steady in July and outperformed the rest of southern New England, with both single-family home sales and median sales prices rising, according to a report released Wednesday.


It remains to be seen what the future will bring. It seems we here will see prices decline some in the next year- but it will unlikely not be the kind of bloodbath happening in some places.

[JayCT]

In Glastonbury I am seeing well located, well maintained, and well priced homes selling pretty quickly. The house behind me sold in 2 days for more than asking price. A couple of friends have sold without issue either. I have seen a number of other homes around town sell quickly too. The over-priced house down the street sat for months, but now is sale pending after they dropped the price to a reasonable amount. I will say it is not the frenzy it was a year or two ago, but things are selling well here. JMHO Jay

[Bob The Builder]

JayCT

What price range of homes are you referring to? My understanding (only from talking to agents) is that the sub 50k and over Multiple Millions are still selling, but the 300k to 800k are very slow. Thanks.

[Bob The Builder]

Ooops.. Sub 250k

[mels]

Originally Posted by Bob The Builder

Ooops.. Sub 250k

Ha! I was about to say where in CT are you finding homes that cheap?

I also think well priced homes are doing OK. The people thinking that they can get twice as much as they paid for it 5 years ago are the ones sitting on the market. There was an overpriced house across the street from me that sold quickly and I was surprised. Then I saw that the sellers ended up coming down $60K for the sale. Someone low balled them and it worked.

[JayCT]

Originally Posted by Bob The Builder

JayCT

What price range of homes are you referring to? My understanding (only from talking to agents) is that the sub 50k and over Multiple Millions are still selling, but the 300k to 800k are very slow. Thanks.

Bob - These are right in the $300k to $800k price range. One friends was $300k+, the other $625k. The homes in our neighborhood are $400k to $500k. Others I have seen are in that range as well.

Not sure what the agent you talked to expects but like I said if it is well located, well maintained and well priced, it is selling here. I am not an agent but I follow the market here very close and this is what I am seeing. Maybe the agent is comparing it to a couple of years ago where anything sold quickly.

I do know someone who had a home that was large and in a nice location but the house was dated and had no back yard (on a hill). They had trouble selling because they refused to believe that their house was worth as much as other similar sized homes that did not have these issues. They did just sell after a long time on the market at significantly less than they thought it should be (and what it was originally priced at) and they are in real estate. Jay

[skytrekker]

The US Housing market is going through a moment of reflection.
Pollyanna predictions that all is well- even here in CT which did not precipitate in the extreme bubble conditions compared to areas of the south, far west and mid Atlantic may prove to be wrong. Its like a huge ocean liner making a turn- the problems may persist for many years, demographics are not favorable in the future.

Connecticut demographics are somewhat good for 55 and over homes; this will see some growth. Other then that, population growth here will see growth in low to mid priced homes by incoming immigrants from mostly Latin America, and 'equity locusts' moving from much more costly regions.

Because we did not overbuild and over speculate in the last 6 years, this may save us from the wolves that are eating other areas to the bone. But this area is not going to boom; unless global warming/climate change makes areas to south too hot, too dry or too costly for insurance, water, crime or a plethora of other issues. Or unless some bio tech company comes up with cures for cancer, aids or stops aging. Connecticut will do ok, but not spectacular.

[BigHouse9]

Wow! Thanks for all the information everyone!

[JayCT]

Interestingly, I just read that New Jersey based builder K. Houvnanian is sharply cutting prices on many of its new homes this weekend. The cuts are as much as 25%! Talk about drastic. Houvnanian is one of the largest builders in the country and has had 4 straight quarters of losses. They usually build larger communities of homes that are value priced. They do not build in Connecticut. Thought this is interesting though. Says a lot about the condition of the market in other parts of the country. Jay