Archive for the 'The Valley' Category
Greater Hartford Real Estate Market Statistics- July 2008
The lazy days of summer are here. But at the Greater Hartford Real Estate Blog, we’re not lazy, we’re market focused! So just what the heck happened out there in July? Let’s look at the lastest real estate statistics, straight from the CT Multiple Listing Service…
My takeaways…
1. If you’re a buyer and looking for a deal, you might want to concentrate on the markets with their inventory numbers highlighted yellow. Those are all Buyer’s markets right now, based on the last 3 months of sales data.
2. If you’re a seller in Newington or West Hartford (inventory highlighted green), you’re most likely in a good position right now, Seller’s market. Homes are moving fairly quickly in these two towns, and depending on the amount of inventory in your price range, you should be able to get close to your asking price, if you’re priced correctly. Buyers in these two towns should be very aware of what’s available in their price range and be able to react quickly and with reasonable offers if they see something they like. Because if you don’t move on it, someone else will.
3. If you’re a buyer or seller in any of the towns with inventory shaded white, you’re in a Neutral market. Look closely at the competition when submitting offers and pricing your home for sale.
4. Many towns saw substantial Percentage Changes in the number of closings between July of 2008 and July of 2007. Make sure you look at the actual # Sold though. Many of the numbers are small, so small changes of a few closings sometimes translates to large Percentage Changes. Ah, the wonder of statistics. Remember this when you’re reading newspaper articles about the housing market, as they often only speak in percentage terms and not actual # of Sold properties.
Test Scores and Home Prices
Last week the results for the Connecticut Mastery Test were released to the public. The Courant has put together a nice page for quickly seeing data, while the official results website allows users to generate detailed reports.
As expected, there has been a flurry of commentary on the results for different towns. The West Hartford results are being debated on West Hartford Forums, Talk of West Hartford, and The West Hartford Blog. I’m sure that there are other places also.
Rather that rehashing what has already been said, let’s keep the focus on real estate and take a look at the relationship between test scores and home prices. Will buying a home in a town with higher median home prices provide access to better performing schools (based on CMT results)?
The above graph shows test scores for each town (average performance of eighth graders) as a function of the town’s median home prices (second quarter of 2008). It is interesting to note that test scores and median home price seems to be correlated. I’m sure there are other factors that influence the relationship. Anyone up for running a regression analysis… 
Celebrate West Hartford & Farmington Antiques Weekend
There are two fun outdoor events going on this weekend that you might want to check out.
Celebrate West Hartford is a free outdoor festival where you can shop at craft booths, enjoy rides and games, sample some delicious food from local eateries, and participate in a 5K road race. The event runs Saturday from 10-6 and Sunday from 12-6 in the West Hartford Center and Blue Back Square area.
Farmington Antiques Weekend is also taking place this Saturday and Sunday. Whether a browser or a buyer, you’ll have a good time looking at the wares of over 400 vendors. Saturday’s $10 admission is good for both days. The show runs from 8-5 on Saturday. If you only want to visit on Sunday, admission is $7 and hours are 10-5. The event is held at the Farmington Polo Grounds at 152 Town Farm Road.
I’m taking a much needed day off tomorrow and will be hitting up the antique show in the morning and volunteering at the West Hartford Dog Park booth at Celebrate West Hartford in the afternoon. Hope to see you there and don’t forget to wear your sunscreen! Also, this would be a great opportunity for weekend plans with friends…