Happy New Year to all!
With the new year comes something new for Wendy and I. After ten years of service the TNT Partners team is parting ways. Wendy and I will be running our respective businesses separately. She will be pursing her love of technology while still remaining a licensed real estate agent. I will maintain my full-time presence at Coldwell Banker, and am looking forward to servicing real estate clients throughout Fairfield County.
2013 goes into the real estate books as the year the tides turned for the sellers, and we thank our lucky stars. Finally, unit sales along with prices are showing convincing signs of a trend reversal.
Sales (SF) for 2013 were up across the board vs. 2012; Westport (+28.4%), Weston (+30.6%), Wilton (+17.1%), Fairfield (+16.6%), Norwalk (+22%). Check out our Market Action Reports for the details.
Low interest rates coupled with low prices and inventory were the initial drivers of the market place. Now that we are experiencing some higher prices and increasing interest rates the sales pace may slow a bit but we are still maintaining our prediction for meaningful follow through from the current trend.
The buyer pool remains unsatisfied with the current inventory and will be ready to embrace a competitive spring market. I am expecting modest price appreciation throughout the year along with further mortgage rate increases.
There is still "room to go" for prices to rebound. Here are a few data points showing the peak to trough in average sales price for our towns:
- Westport bottomed out down -24.3% and has rebounded 12.7%, currently down -8.3% from the peak.
- Wilton bottomed out down -41.62% and has rebounded 25.2%, currently down -15.5% from the peak.
- Fairfield bottomed out down -28.5% and has rebounded 12.7%, currently down -15.8% from the peak.
- Norwalk bottomed out down -36.5% and has rebounded 12%, currently down -24.5% from the peak.
- Weston bottomed out down -41.62% and has rebounded 4%, currently down -37.8% from the peak.
I am here to advise and inform you of the local market and answer any questions you may have. Don't hesitate to get in touch. Hope you had a good holiday season and wish you all the best in 2014!
Steven
