2009 presented many challenges for sellers, agents and believe it or not, buyers too.  Check out the 2009 stats in the table below and you’ll see that in all the Fairfield County municipalities listed, prices fell about 11% on average.  Transaction volume, well that was off in the towns but not so much in the cities.  Stamford and Norwalk each posted about a 5% increase in the number of deals while Danbury showed a modest decline.

As prices fell throughout the year, the smart sellers made repairs, priced their house at market value and were able to sell quickly and painlessly.  Others found the market to be hostile.  Overpriced homes (probably 50% – 75% of the 2009 inventory) languished on the market, frustrating owners who did not believe that declining values hit THEIR property.  Those in denial paid in frustration, anguish and ultimately a lower price for their home because it was on the market longer as prices declined.

For buyers, 2009 was a year of good deals, great deals (foreclosures and short sales) and some difficult deals as personalities, attitudes and anger made made for many acrimonious negotiations.  For the most part, residential property values fell back to around 2003 levels.

Real estate agents found 2009 to be a challenge.  The good ones worked on developing the new skills that the market now demands.  For me, I can say that I worked harder than ever to make sure my clients’ worked out in their favor.  Negotiating last year’s deals and seeing them through to close required strict attention to all the details, patience and skill.

	2009 mean	Pct Chg from 2008	2009 median	Pct Chg from 2008	2009 #Trans	Pct Chg from 2008
Brookfield	417,420	-11.8%	384,000	-8.5%	125	-23.3%
Danbury	309,927	-13.9%	290,000	-12.1%	324	-3.0%
Newtown	428,668	-15.2%	420,000	-9.3%	212	-7.0%
Norwalk	529,423	-22.7%	440,000	-14.3%	439	5.5%
Redding	664,338	-7.4%	559,000	-12.0%	70	-6.7%
Ridgefield	759,494	-11.4%	645,000	-11.0%	220	-8.3%
Stamford	665,915	-13.0%	575,000	-10.2%	488	4.9%
Weston	936,173	-20.4%	825,000	-11.3%	92	-20.7%
Westport	1,419,436	-16.9%	1,188,500	-12.0%	250	-7.7%
Wilton	915,137	-12.9%	756,250	-10.7%	136	-16.6%

All data is from the CMLS and believed to be accurate and reliable.

The transaction price erosion we saw at the highest level is driven mainly by 2 factors: overall decline in market values and the shifting focus of buyers toward more modest dwellings.

Anyone care to make a prediction?  Will the high-end buyers be back in 2010?  Personally, I think we’ll see more attention on luxury homes in the coming year as pent up demand will bring more buyers to this market segement while at the same time, many are tiring of the selling process and will do “whatever it takes” to get their homes sold.

Northern Fairfield County’s Biggest Deals of 2009 list won’t make the Forbes World’s Most Expensive Homes list, but they are beautiful and luxurious.  Check out all the 2009 biggest deals below:

Biggest Residential Real Estate Deals of 2009

Take Ridgefield for example. In 2007 the Tax Assessor (Al Garzi), worked with a vendor to revalue every property in town. Based on actual sales, they objectively assign a dollar value to each parcel in order to fairly divide up Ridgefield’s tax burden. If a house has recently changed ownership, it is likely that that the new assessment will reflect this transaction price.

When I value a home for sale or purchase, I present my client with 4 different market valuation models based on several factors. The tax assessment is a major input to my valuation model for any individual home. Not only the assessment for that particular house, but the assessments for all the comparable houses that have recently sold and are currently on the market.

Contact me to learn more about how to accurately model the value of any home. Weather you’re buying, selling, or just tracking the value of you current home, it’s important to keep an accurate read on it’s market value.

Online Tax Assessments for Ridgefield, Redding, Wilton and other area towns in Fairfield County

• Ridgefield Tax Assessor
• Redding Tax Assessor
• Wilton Tax Assessor
• Danbury Tax Assessor
• Newtown Tax Assessor
• Bethel Tax Assessor
• Brookfield Tax Assessor
• New Fairfield Tax Assessor

Related Articles on Real Estate Chocolate:

• How One Ridgefielder Beat the Tax Man and You Can Too
• What Everybody Ought to Know About Ridgefield, Real Estate Taxes
• 16 Home Buying Secrets You Need to Know Before You Purchase

Home sellers are asking me “how can I be the next one?” If you really want to sell, then let’s talk about a pricing strategy that works. You see, selling real estate is kind like fishing. You can have the best gear, the best bait and even be in the best fishing spot. However, if the fish are 30 feet down and you only let out 10 feet of line, you can fish all day and still have nothing for dinner! Let out 10 more feet, not a bite. 10 more feet and then you’ll be eating fillets for a week!

If you’ve got a great house and your realtor has a proven marketing system and you’re still not seeing satisfactory activity or offers (i.e. no bites), then your bait’s not low enough. Your not fishing where the fish actually are. It’s time to let out more line. And then keep letting it out until you hook your buyer.

The Home Sales Strategy That Will Sell Your House!

First, realize that today there are many more houses for sale than buyers to buy them. Not what you were hoping for but the good news is that if you’re buying something on the other end, then you’ll be benefiting from this situation too! The sooner you “get to 30 feet”, the faster you will hook a buyer and you will actually sell for a higher price than if you stayed at 10 feet for too long. Price your house as competitively as possible. Then for every 2 weeks without an acceptable offer, drop your price by $10,000 – $20,000. Today’s buyers make decisions based on value. That’s it. A periodic price adjustment strategy will get your house sold. Guaranteed!

Northern Fairfield County Real Estate IS selling and at ALL price levels:

Bethel. . . . . 14 transactions currently in process between $314,000 and $549,900
Brookfield . 20 transactions currently in process between $290,000 and $990,000
Danbury . . 45 transactions currently in process between $180,000 and $1,600,000
Newtown . .20 transactions currently in process between $175,000 and $1,199,999
Redding . . . .9 transactions currently in process between $190000 and $1,750,000
Ridgefield. . 19 transactions currently in process between $375,000 and $3,500,000
Wilton . . . . .12 transactions currently in process between $390,000 and $2,399,000

See these other posts on Real Estate Chocolate:

• Just How Many Homes Really Are Selling in the Region (Ridgefield, Redding, Wilton, …)
• How to Find Out What the Tax Man Thinks Your Fairfield County House is Worth and Why it Matters
• What Everybody Ought to Know About Their Credit and FICO Score

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As the media bombards us with enough doom and gloom to last for the next 10 years, you can be sure there’s more to come. But everyone keeps asking me “how bad is it… really? You know, with real estate”

Truth is, no matter how bad the market appears on the new, people still need to buy and sell homes. Workers are still being transferred, families are still growing, folks are still dying, divorces are still occurring,life dreams are still being realized… So you see, life goes on no matter what happens in Washington or on Wall Street. An believe it or not, mortgage money is freely available to ALL qualified buyers! And at great rates.

It’s not fair to say all is rosy but you can’t say the real estate market has totally fallen apart either. Overall, compared to 2007 (which by the way was not stellar but not so bad either), the region shows a 27% decline in single family home sales. 27% fewer players means a little less liquidity in the market and generally you’ll find it takes a longer to sell. However, the market is still active, just not as much as last year. As the market has shifted to favor the buyers in price negotiations, and prices will continue to decline somewhat, it’s crucial for sellers to price their homes at or below market value.

Bottom line for sellers is that to be included in the 73% of transactions that continue to occur, be smart and price to market. Overpricing you house will be frustrating, stressful and ultimately leads to more stress and less money.

Do we have a national weather report? You know, just one report like “in the US today it will be sunny day in the mid-80’s…” Never seen that? It doesn’t work because weather is local.

It can’t be done with real estate either… just like weather, real estate is local. So all these headlines shouting “20% foreclosure rate” and “prices down over 30%” might apply to other locales but I can tell you they’re not talking about Ridgefield, CT!

Ridgefield Real Estate Report

What we’ve seen thru the beginning of August is a real estate market that remains active and still shows significant activity. Year-to-date, the number of transactions still trail last year by about 30% and, by looking at the Ridgefield median home price, prices have only dropped about 10% over the last 18 months. Inventory has started to wane as the good houses (best condition, best price) are quickly bought while the others will continue to linger on the market. Buyers are still blessed with access to low mortgage rates and Brad and I keep relationships with the best mortgage professionals in the business so you can be certain that with a good credentials, borrowing money will never be a problem.

A closer look at the numbers reveals an interesting trend this year: sales activity is focused on the lower end of the market. The graph shows a distinct shift in 2008 from Ridgefield luxury real estate and more towards the entry and mid levels. We’re definitely seeing more young families getting into town for the terrific schools and other sought-after amenities while owners at the high end are holding onto their homes and anticipating better times to come.

I can’t say exactly when things will bottom-out but I can tell you that just like the weather, the report is local but it is also affected by many larger forces. As the election shakes out, oil prices drop back to reasonable levels and the banks realigned themselves with manageable lending behavior, the Ridgefield real estate market will see some gains again. It might not be until 2009 or 2010, but all markets are cyclical and we’ll ride this out better than 98% of the rest of the country.

Don’t ever hesitate to call us if you have any questions about this information or anything else. We’re always available to help in any way we can.

Related Posts on Real Estate Chocolate:

• Home Sales Roundup – Ridgefield, Redding and Wilton CT Real Estate – July 2008
• How to Find Out What the Tax Man Thinks Your Fairfield County House is Worth and Why it Matters
• How Some Officially Reported Data is Misleading and Why You Need to Know the Truth

Ridgefield Real Estate Market Commentary

We’re still tracking behind 2007 in number of Ridgefield real estate sales but the inventory level has fallen well below 2007 as well… and that’s a good thing. What this means that although we’re still seeing some softness in the market, many of the unrealistic sellers have let their listings expire or canceled them outright. YTD transaction volume is down about 33% but we are seeing the expected seasonal uptick in sales pending and sales closed.

The Ridgefield real estate market continues to be active. For home buyers the word is “value”. They are looking for the best values which include not just a home’s amenities but also it’s condition and location. I’ve recently seen several properties sell quickly and some are even selling for over asking price. These are the homes that provide the best value and these are the Ridgefield homes that are priced at the market.

It continues to be a great time to buy a house and trade-up opportunities abound. Interest rates are still low, there’s a good selection to choose from and although no is “giving their house away”, there are deals to be had. Buyers who are waiting to make decisions are losing their homes of choice to other buyers. Stay tuned to see how the market progress into the summer and fall selling seasons.

Ridgefield Real Estate Market Commentary

May brought us into Ridgefield’s Spring real estate selling season. We continue to see a decline in the number of closed transactions from the previous year, down by almost half compared to May, 2007 and down about 35% year-to-date. After a few months of decline, one measure of price levels, price-per-square-foot, has rebounded to $287 on average – back in line with historical levels of the past couple of years. . Buyers are still in control but they are generally taking a long time to make decisions and are most nervous about a market decline. Although sales are down, luckily Ridgefield has not experienced a huge erosion in property values mostly due to how desirable people find the town. Great schools, proximity to New York City, many employers and corporations within a manageable drive and overall property values (AND TAXES) that remain extremely attractive compared to Westchester County and lower Fairfield County towns like Darien and New Canaan.

The savvy buyers are taking advantage of current market conditions (lower prices, GREAT SELECTION) to “trade up” to a more expensive house for themselves and their families. They are realize that they might have to “give a little” on the sale side but “make it up in spades” on their purchase. Read this Time Magazine article: Ignore the Headlines.

The question most often heard from buyers is about their new house maintaining value in the short term. My view on this is that you can’t “day trade” houses like you can try to do with stocks. Prices will fluctuate up and down in the short term but history has totally proven that in the medium to long term (say 3-4 years plus), real estate will reliably return above average investment gains. And while your asset appreciates, you can also LIVE IN IT! You can’t live in a stock certificate, can you?

Related Posts

• Home Sales Roundup – Ridgefield, Redding and Wilton CT Real Estate – May 2008
• How Some Officially Reported Data is Misleading and Why You Need to Know the Truth

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