Week 41: Market Report – Five Months In. John Engel’s Real Estate Column for the New Canaan Sentinel
New Canaan – There are 73 single-family homes for sale, a -15% drop since last year. Last year we peaked in May with 86 and two years ago we peaked in June with 95, a steady decline. The median sold price was $2.02 million across May’s 18 sales, a price decline of -9.35% since April […]
Week 40: The Lost Art of the Listing Description. John Engel’s Real Estate Column for the New Canaan Sentinel
This is a lost art. I am referring to the property description field on the multiple listing service. The New Canaan MLS limits agents to 500 characters while the SmartMLS allows 1500. Letting agents say three times as much does not seem to be making much of a difference. Uninspired is uninspired . A mashup […]
Week 39: Inspection Season. John Engel’s Real Estate Column for the New Canaan Sentinel
As we approach the end of the Spring market this is the point of the year when we appear to have the most amount of inventory, the crest of the inventory sine wave. That is because everything that is coming on is on, and those properties that have accepted offers are still waiting for signed […]
Week 38: Beach Season – the Waterfront Report. John Engel’s Real Estate Column for the New Canaan Sentinel
It’s beach season and Save the Sound has graded all 197 Connecticut beaches on water quality and 75% of them got a grade of A or B. Beaches at the entrance to Long Island Sound such as in Noank and Groton lead the list, but in this area the top beaches are Bell Island Beach […]
Week 37: Tailwinds and Low Sensitivity to Rates. John Engel’s Real Estate Column for the New Canaan Sentinel
I want to revisit why the New Canaan housing market is so far out balance, favoring sellers, and why prices keep rising, and why this trajectory is destined to continue. New Canaan will continue to see rising prices for two reasons: low interest rate sensitivity and strong demand tailwinds. The market began 2023 expecting a […]
Week 36: Who Moved the Realtor’s Cheese? John Engel’s Real Estate Column for the New Canaan Sentinel
People ask, “How long does it take to write the real estate column?” All week. I have dozens of columns rattling around up there, but I sometimes struggle with what it is my audience wants. The easiest column to write is just a list of statistics. The reaction is usually, “Wow, that’s a lot of […]
Week 35: Fairfield vs. Westchester County: Head to Head. John Engel’s Real Estate Column for the New Canaan Sentinel
HEAD-TO HEAD COMPARISON Here’s a head-to-head comparison of the current real estate market conditions for Q1-2024 between Westchester County, NY, and Fairfield County, CT. Fairfield: Average Sales Price: $915,665, a slight decrease from the previous yearAverage Price Per Sq Ft: $422Median Sales Price: $545,000, a decrease of 6.8% from the previous year Number of Sales […]
Week 34: New Canaan and Greenwich vs. Fairfield County. John Engel’s Real Estate Column for the New Canaan Sentinel
Median Sales Price (Single Family) New Canaan: The median sales price stands at $2,161,000, showing a modest quarterly growth (+1.9%) and a year-over-year increase (+7.7%). Greenwich: Surpasses New Canaan with a median sales price of $3,000,000, indicating a more pronounced quarterly surge (+60.3%) and a significant year-over-year rise (+36.6%). Compared to Fairfield County, both towns […]
Week 33: A Tale of Four Towns. John Engel’s Real Estate Column for the New Canaan Sentinel
CLOSED SALESNew Canaan had 32, up from 31 while Darien had 22 down from 32 a year ago. Wilton had 42 sales, up 55% from a year ago while Westport had 45, down -15% from 53 a year ago. New Canaan sales were flat despite lower inventory. Count that a victory. Is Wilton the only […]
Week 32: Mill Rates and Property Tax Changes May Shake Out New Inventory. John Engel’s Real Estate Column for the New Canaan Sentinel
Manhattan Market Report Manhattan first quarter sales fell, down 11.3% annually, now below two thousand (1,988), the lowest level in 3 years. Prices slid year-over-year, now 17.4% below pre-pandemic levels. Inventory went lower due to the “lock-in-effect”. Mortgage-purchases dropped 26.7% annually. The percentage of cash sales has reached a record high, up each of the […]
