Week 51: How Real Estate is Like and Not Like Poker. John Engel’s Real Estate Column for the New Canaan Sentinel
Today I am speaking on a panel on industry changes. I am noticing more pressure on buyer’s agents from a number of directions. Sellers are asking if they can eliminate or reduce offers of compensation, probing for a better deal. Buyers are approaching the listing agent directly. This is to be expected as both sides […]
Week 50: Like a Starter’s Pistol, We’re Off! John Engel’s Real Estate Column for the New Canaan Sentinel
t is as if we began the Fall Season with a starter pistol on Labor Day. Buyers and sellers are feeling a newfound urgency to enter the market. Last week we listed an in-town renovated antique for $2.5 million. Over 30 groups made appointments last weekend and there were multiple offers when the dust settled. […]
Week 49: Labor Day Market Report – 8 Months In John Engel’s Real Estate Column for the New Canaan Sentinel
Homes for Sale. For the third month in a row the amount of inventory fell in New Canaan and continues to drop around Fairfield County. Darien and Wilton see single family home inventory consistently below 50 homes since late 2022 while New Canaan has been below 75 since that time (with the exception being last […]
Week 48: What Drives the Housing Market? John Engel’s Real Estate Column for the New Canaan Sentinel
We are at the long-awaited inf lection point where the Fed reverses course and lowers rates. The stock and bond markets rallied this week on the news. A survey of big banks predicts 30- year rates between 6.5% and 6.7% in the fourth quarter. 15-year adjustables, already in the high 5’s, will drop to the […]
Week 47: Round House. John Engel’s Real Estate Column for the New Canaan Sentinel
In 1968 midcentury modern architect Richard Foster designed The Round House in Wilton for his own family, a house also known as The Spaceship House or The Circambulant House, one which rotates fully on its axis once every 45 minutes, the first rotating house in the world. Melissa and I had the pleasure of touring […]
Week 46: How to Show a House. John Engel’s Real Estate Column for the New Canaan Sentinel
This week’s column is not really about showing a house. I am being both literal and metaphorical, relevant for those of you in another line of work. It’s about being purposeful in everything we do. I’ll begin with a story from the Army. Sergeant Cornelius had previously been a General’s aide. When interviewing new, young […]
Week 45: Summer Thoughts. John Engel’s Real Estate Column for the New Canaan Sentinel
Pool construction is down 49% since peaking during the pandemic, 2021. And searches in Google for “swimming pool cost” is also down 40% since 2020, now at their lowest levels in a decade. Pool Corp estimates that the cost of a new pool nationally has risen 72% in the last 5 years (2019-2024) to $74,000. […]
Week 44: Mid Year Market Report for 8 Towns. John Engel’s Real Estate Column for the New Canaan Sentinel
We looked at the stats for the first 6 months, comparing towns of similar size and wealth head to head in order to add some context. When we quote a number, it is a comparison with this time last year. These figures include houses, condos and co-ops. Most striking is Darien’s lack of inventory, Norwalk’s […]
Week 43: Rental Market Roundup. John Engel’s Real Estate Column for the New Canaan Sentinel
We can see in this chart that in Manhattan the discount on rents has been close to zero since the beginning of 2024, while across the East River in Brooklyn and northern Queens the discount has been negative for three years, at times quite extremely negative at -8%. Note, a negative discount means that the […]
Week 42: Two Strategies: Buydowns and Assumable Mortgages. John Engel’s Real Estate Column for the New Canaan Sentinel
This week we’ll discuss discount points and assumable loans as two creative ways to approach your next real estate purchase. Purchasing discount points becomes more popular during periods of higher interest rates. It’s a strategy everyone should consider in this “higher-for- longer” environment. According to Zillow, nearly half (45%) of home buyers with conventional loans […]
