It is safe to say that most people would prefer to forget 2020 for multiple reasons that do not need to be spelled out. But for the Bross Chingas Bross sales team affiliated with the Coldwell Banker Realty Global Luxury Headquarters in Westport, 2020 was an extraordinary 12-month period.
How extraordinary was it? The team ”” led by Barbara Bross, Alexander Chingas and Doug Bross ”” ranked 33rd on the 2021 REAL Trends”™ The Thousand list published in The Wall Street Journal. That ranking, according to REAL Trends, placed them within “the top one-tenth of 1% of more than 1.4 million licensed Realtors nationwide,” due to achieving more than $188.5 million in closed sales volume with 129.9 transaction sides in 2020.
Barbara Bross noted the new listing was the team”™s highest since they began submitting data for consideration.
“Coldwell Banker sends in our statistics at the end of the year and we manage to get on that list,” she said. “Each year, we get better and better.”
“Our previous high was 100,” added Chingas. “That was really great, but I never thought it could get any better. But thankfully, our business continues to thrive and flourish and strengthen.”
Chingas acknowledged the Covid-19 pandemic brought in a new wave of homebuyers from New York City into the team”™s lower Fairfield County market.
“It”™s unfortunate, because who would have ever wanted the health crisis of the past year-and-a-half to have occurred?” he asked.
“The market was spurred along by the pandemic and that allowed us to maintain our full activity and be busy helping people. These people wanted what this area has on offer and we were able to pivot to some new ways of doing business.”
The team employs full-time social media and branding specialists to reach potential buyers online, but much of their 2020 sales activity was fueled by word-of-mouth referrals.
Chingas observed that the team is now into their “third generation and fourth generation of friend groups from New York” where new Connecticut transplants praised the team”™s abilities to their colleagues still trying to exit the Big Apple.
“And sometimes it comes from neighbors in the same apartment building,” Chingas said. “Maybe they can come out to visit their friend and see their new home and community, and they like what they see. And then they say, ”˜Who helped you buy this house?”™”
While the 2020 sales marked a personal best for the team, they did not forecast a slowdown in their sales activity as companies continue to enable either full-time or hybrid remote work solutions from employees who would otherwise be required to arrive in their Manhattan offices.
The main challenge, however, is inventory ”” or to be more accurate ”” the lack thereof.
“This quarter, we”™ve been hovering about 150 active listings at any given point in time in Westport,” Chingas said. “During Q2, typical for the season is probably more like 350. The demand is up and the supply doesn”™t appear to be growing to meet the demand, so that”™s leading to a competitive atmosphere for the listed properties.”
“There have also been moments over the last two months that the supply number has dipped under 100,” said Doug Bross, who pointed out that buyers are ready to buy properties that are still in blueprint stage.
“People are buying them before the shovels hit the ground,” he continued. “People want to know about the lots that the builders have contracts on. In one case, a builder didn”™t want to put a house on the market and a client said, ”˜Build me this exact same house on this location. I won”™t question any of the paint colors, just clone the house and tell me when it”™ll be ready. And here”™s my check.”™ And they offered $200,000 over what the same house costs on a similarly priced piece of land.”
Doug Bross is also confident that the team”™s sales numbers can climb beyond 2021 into 2022.
“There is a call that we get every day,” he said. “They say, ”˜What do you have that”™s not on the market that”™s new that that I can get my hands on? I”™ll wait a year.”™ That”™s remarkable.”
