Who says that the market cannot have a fall bounce even though the late summer was extremely busy? Hartford County finished October with 1,133 contracts, which was a modest uptick from the September 2020 total and a huge 45% increase over October 2019.
To put this result in context, the previous busiest October was 812 contracts in 2018. And not counting 2020, the previous all time busiest month was 1,125 in May 2019. Last month (October!) had more single-family contracts signed than any spring market month from 2009 through 2019 (the time period we have been keeping stats using this methodology).
The pandemic clearly caused a delayed spring market. But it wasn’t as if all real estate activity simply shifted to later in the year. Buyer demand was much higher than normal. The year-to-date number of contracts is more than 17% ahead of where it was in 2019 at this point. At the same time, the year-to-date number of listings this year is over 8% behind where it was in 2019 at this point. Buyers delayed their spring real estate activities to the summer and fall, while many sellers postponed their move to an unknown time in the future.
An important result of this dynamic is the continued reduction in the inventory of available homes. The Hartford County market is well into “Seller’s Market” territory for all price points below $500,000. The overall metric fell to 1.3 months of inventory, as shown below. That number is likely to go lower in the coming months since buyers still seem very active and this is the time of year when sellers are least inclined to list their home for sale.
There is clearly an opportunity for owners who are open to selling. We’re not saying that this is a market where a seller can set a crazy-high asking price and expect to get it. Instead, the opportunity is for pretty much any home to successfully sell, and to get an attractive price in the process. Contact Kyle at 860-655-2922 for more information.
