https://www.ctpost.com/realestate/article/ct-home-sales-stamford-danbury-waterbury-21026250.php
Months after the U.S. real estate market began to sag, Connecticut took a step in that direction in August with statewide sales of houses and condominiums down 8% from a year earlier – but prices remain stubbornly high for frustrated buyers.
About 300 fewer houses and condos sold in August compared to a year earlier, according to preliminary data from Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices New England Properties, for 3,460 transactions statewide. Over the first eight months of 2025, sales remain up 1.5% from a year earlier, with about 22,900 transactions through August.
Last week the National Association of Realtors reported pending home sales were down across the Northeast, driven in part by continuing high borrowing costs, limited numbers of houses hitting the market, and overall economic uncertainty.
“Buyers still remain hesitant,” said NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun, in a statement accompanying the NAR report. “Buying a home is often the most expensive purchase people will make in their lives. This means that going under contract is not a decision home buyers make quickly. Instead, people take their time to ensure the timing and home are right for them.”
A tepid U.S. job report on Friday contributed to mortgage rates dropping to their lowest level on Friday since October 2024, at 6.29% on average nationally according to Mortgage News Daily. That could prompt more buyers to keep an eye on rates heading into the autumn months and jump into the autumn housing market – which if not accompanied by a lift in new listings, could exert additional upward pressure on home prices.
In Connecticut’s 20 largest real-estate markets, only Fairfield, Danbury and Middletown saw more buying action in August compared to a year earlier, according to Berkshire Hathaway, with those deals reflecting purchase agreements reached weeks earlier.
In that group, 11 cities and towns are still in positive sales territory on the year, with Milford out front with a 15% increase in transactions followed by Danbury and Waterbury.
Despite slightly fewer sales in August, Stamford remains the busiest market statewide with about 50 more transactions this year compared to the first eight months of last year, for 785 home sales in total. That is up 6.7% from the first eight months of 2024.
The buyer of the median home in Stamford shelled out out $73,000 more than the city’s median home purchase between January and August 2024, data posted by Berkshire Hathaway shows.
For now, the higher prices for median homes cut across most of Connecticut, in part due to more higher-end homes being listed for sale compared to last year, with extremes in some towns. Statewide, the price of Connecticut’s median home sold to date this year was $425,000, up $25,000 from the same window in 2024.
In Fairfield, the this year’s median-priced home cost $118,000 more than the equivalent property in 2024. Glastonbury’s median home buyer paid a $93,000 premium compared to last year. The differential was $60,000 in Guilford.
Among the 40-plus cities and towns with at least 200 transactions to date this year, only Southbury and Farmington have seen median prices come in significantly below the 2024 median sales. And in the latter town, buyers are paying 4.7% above final asking prices by sellers, indicating bidding wars continue.
Southbury was the largest market among 40 towns where buyers are chipping away discounts on final asking prices on average, followed by Stonington and New Fairfield.
Elsewhere, buyers are paying higher prices to get the keys, including in Simsbury and West Hartford at 9% and 8.1% above asking prices respectively. Glastonbury, Wilton and Darien are seeing premiums more than 7% above asking prices on average, with Wethersfield, Ridgefield, Windsor Locks and Manchester among the locales where new purchases are running above 5%.
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