January Contracts: Cool Start to the Year

Hartford County Single Family Contracts in January 2014

The Hartford County single-family home market began 2014 with 519 contracts in January. The total was more than 4% lower than January of last year, though still higher than any other year since our data began in 2009. January was the longest cold stretch that we can remember in Greater Hartford. There have been brief deep freezes, but our experience in the area is that the temperature rarely falls below 20 degrees for long. This

Hartford’s Property Tax Task Force Report

Steg

In June of 2013 the City established a Task Force “for the purpose of examining and analyzing Hartford’s property tax system, and making recommendations for State legislation to rectify imbalances resulting from the system.” We follow the City’s property tax system closely, and the Task Force’s recently released final report makes this a good opportunity to quickly review Hartford’s current tax situation, analyze the recommendations of the Task Force and share our thoughts. Hartford’s property

148 Westgate Street, West Hartford

148 Westgate, West Hartford

This expanded Cape is conveniently located in Elmwood, close to shopping, restaurants and highway access. The first floor features a large remodeled kitchen with eat-in space which opens to an oversized family room. The family room overlooks the level backyard and has a wood burning stove and access to a deck, great for entertaining. A formal dining room has a fireplace. Two bedrooms and a renovated bathroom complete the first floor. Upstairs there are two

Paying Attention to Your Surroundings

Orchard

When you’re looking at a property, how much time do you spend outside looking at the surroundings? What are the adjacent properties? How do they look? Are you near a major road? Are there commercial or other non-residential parcels near you? Is there a farm or undeveloped land abutting or near the property? When we view homes with buyers we try to spend some time evaluating the adjoining and nearby spaces. This isn’t necessarily to

Town-by-Town Sales Data for 2013

2013 Year End Single-Family Stats by Town

Last week we published some charts showing the direction of the overall single-family market in Hartford County for 2013. The quick summary was that sales activity has been increasing nicely for two years, but median prices have been stuck in a protracted valley. The data tells a variety of different stories when we zoom in to the individual towns. Before we get there though, a quick disclaimer. It’s difficult to take too strong a position