November Contracts: A Gradual Winter Slowdown

November contracts came in at 482 deals for the month, which shows a reasonable and normal decline as we head into the colder months and the holiday season. Comparing this November to last year is misleading. The data shows us more than 40% ahead of November 2011, which is much higher than the 25% year-over-year bump that we have been reporting in past months. But last year there was a disruption in the market than

May Contracts: The 2012 Spring Plateau

Hartford County real estate markets finished May with basically the same number of single-family deals as March and April. Looking at the chart below, one might think that the market has hit some sort of speed limit or something. Why haven’t we broken through the ceiling of about 750 deals per month? The only month on the chart with a higher total was April 2010, which was the deadline for collecting the Federal Home Buyer

April Contracts: A Sideways Step

April single-family contracts came in at about the same level as Hartford County saw last month. Activity remains much higher than we observed in 2011, and the month-to-month count of negotiated contracts seems to be following the same pattern as last year. We’ve already commented on much of what we’re seeing in the market right now. Some towns are very active, and multiple offer situations are common. Inventory is on the low side, so buyers

2011 Closed Stats From 50,000 Feet

Last year we gathered up all the Hartford County residential transactions since the beginning of the CTMLS in 2000 and showed how the very high level trends had changed over 10 years. Today we update those charts with the data from 2011. As always, the CTMLS is deemed reliable but not guaranteed. Observations The total number of single-family home transactions fell again in 2011, decreasing about 8% from the 2010 total. With the latest data

February Condo Contract Musings

Through the first two months of the year, buyer interest in condos has been relatively mild. The February data on contracts in Hartford County show that 26% fewer deals came together this February versus last. Overall, there is 8.6 months of supply, which by definition makes it a buyer’s market (6 months of supply is the threshold). Despite the relatively high inventory levels, the supply is not always distributed in the same manner as the