August Contracts: Holding Steady

2021-09-06 Hartford County Single-Family Contracts in August 2021

Hartford County single-family contracts finished the month just over the 1,000 level (again), a strong number for an August. On a year-to-date basis the market was 9.5% ahead of the 2019 total, though about 3% behind 2020’s unusual trend.

Inventory inched upwards again during the month, and on a countywide basis stood at about 1 month of homes. This result keeps local real estate firmly in seller’s market territory, which is defined as less than 3 months of homes available. All of the price bands that we regularly track had inventory levels of less than 3 months except for homes with asking prices of $1,000,000 or more, which had 5.3 months of inventory available and represented a more balanced market.

Taking a step back, our feeling was that the intensity of the market decreased over the summer months. Fewer buyers were competing for homes. The data showed that there were still plenty of active buyers making offers, but it was less common to have properties with overwhelming interest.

It will be interesting to see how the premium that buyers paid changes over time. We still see homes closing over the asking price even though many sellers have set their asking prices based on the new higher level of value that was established in the spring. At some point rising prices will (in theory) overshoot the demand and buyers will no longer have to pay a premium in order to win a home.

What are you seeing out there in the real estate market? Is there anything in particular that you think we should be investigating?

2021-09-06 Hartford County Single-Family Contracts in August 2021 by Town