Darien is strong and strengthening with values rising by 4.5%. The year-to-date numbers show roughly 20% fewer listings and sales than last year, but September saw an increase in listings, pending sales and closed sales versus the previous September. Average and median prices are rising at a double-digit rate and represent new 20-year highs over last year’s records.

Easton is moderately strong, a mixed bag this quarter, but a strong market rising at 5.5%. Overall strong, but the quarter was weak. The number of listings, pending and closed sales slipped significantly both in 2023 and that contraction of activity accelerated in September. Days on market was cut in half to 20. Prices are only flat this year despite average and median prices in September over $1 million. The lift was not enough to bring median Easton prices into positive territory but 105.2% of asking price is exceptional.

Fairfield is strong and strengthening at an 8% level. Here, too, activity decreased both year to date and in the third quarter, lifting both average (5.7%) and median price (3%) for the year. It only takes 11 days for the average property to go pending. Inventory levels are down by 36% and there is only 2.3 months of inventory. New condo listings, and condo sales are rebounding and represent 14% of the market in Fairfield.

Greenwich is moderately strong. Despite a modest decrease in the average and median sales price in September we saw that average price is significantly down and median prices are about where they were a year ago. The average house is selling for 101% of its asking price. The 44% decrease in inventory to 3.5 months is likely to have a positive effect on prices. We see the Greenwich market rising at a 4.9% level. The average house takes 33 median days to pend.

New Canaan’s market is flat with mixed results at best and values are rising at 4.8%. While average price is flat from a year ago at $2.2 million, we saw median prices rise by 3.9% this year after a September full of large sales. September saw the average climb 42% and the median price nearly double to $2.6 million from an anemic median $1.35 million a year ago. Closed sales of only 164 year-to-date is worrisome, as it represents a contraction of 23% from a number (211) last year that wasn’t all that exceptional. 55 condo sales, down from 59 at this time a year ago, is still 20% above historic norms. Expect continued strong performance from the condo market that now represents 18% of all sales.

Norwalk is a strong market, and the 3rd quarter did not disappoint. While listing and sales activity is down roughly 25% for the year, we saw average and median price rise modestly both year-to-date and that trend accelerates in the most recent quarter, up 16% in September. There are 44 condos for sale, and only 83 houses, a more severe contraction than elsewhere in Fairfield County, and houses are now closing for 107% of asking price, on average. Expect Norwalk values to increase at a 6.3% annual rate. 11 median days to pending.

Redding is a moderately strong market which saw 13 sales and 15 new listings in September. Average and Median price are both rising in September and year-to-date. We saw a significant increase in average sale price this year and in September based on the $11.5 million sale of a 41-acre estate on Umpawaug Road as well as 4 other sales over $900,000. Expect Redding to rise at a 6.6% level despite an increase in the months’ supply of inventory from 2.9 to 4.2 months.

Ridgefield is a strong market experiencing a 28% contraction in listing, pending, and closing activity this year, resulting in an exceptional gain in both average and median prices by 23%. The median listing takes 9 days to pend. The average house is selling for 104% of asking price this year. September saw 36 new listings and 32 new sales. We expect Ridgefield values to continue to climb at an 8.2% level.

Stamford is strong, progressing steadily. Median and average price increased by a few points this year to $900,000 despite a flat September where 74 new homes came on the market and only 44 went pending and 46 closed. We had about the same level of activity in the townhouse/condominium market, with 44 of the 445 sales closing in September at the $422,234 average. There are only 2.7 months of house inventory, and 2.0 months of condo inventory, and we expect the market to keep rising at a 6.9% clip. A listing here takes 13 days to pend.

Weston is moderately strong, with 19 new listings and only 11 sales in September. New listings year-to-date are down 21% and sales are down 30%. The median sales price is up 8.8% to $1.297 million. Looking back over the past year we don’t see any exceptional sales. The 5 largest sales of the past year occurred in the 3rd quarter, the largest at $3.75 million in July. The average house sells for 104.9% of asking price. Values are rising at 4.4% annually.

Westport, moderate, once a rocket to the moon, is slowing down. They added 44 new listings in September, but only sold 17 of them and 22 went pending. It’s now taking 31 median days to pending. Prices this year seemed to have stalled at the $2.1 million level after rising more rapidly and steadily than most since 2020. The September slowdown in activity means Westport has a healthier 3.5 months of inventory to sell, and the 21 condos available represents 8.9 months of inventory there. Suprisingly, the condo prices have fallen this year to the mid $700’s. Westport values are expected to continue to rise at a 3.9% annual rate.

Wilton, a strong market with 1.51 months of inventory, had a poor September in terms of the number of sales, and the size of those sales was modest, so negative in every category, but Wilton is up slightly for the year. We saw 18 new listings, 17 went pending and 15 closed in the month of September. The average price is up only 1% this year in Wilton, and the median has risen 4% to $1.11 million after that relatively weak September. Nevertheless, we expect prices to rise by 6.2% this year in Wilton because there is only 1.7 months of inventory and 29 homes for sale town wide.

Notes from the Monday meeting: the Fed is not expected to raise rates in November but with inflation at 3.7% we expect rates may rise ahead of the Spring market.

Check out John Engel’s Podcast, Boroughs & Burbs, the National Real Estate Conversation here.