While home prices have been rising nationwide, a recent report shows home prices in Fairfield County are still continuing to drop.
The median price of a single-family home in Fairfield County decreased 6.5 percent in the third quarter of 2012, according to a report by Prudential Connecticut Realty. Statewide, there was a 2.2 percent decrease.
“That”™s the one number out of all the numbers in Connecticut that have been sliding a little bit,” said Terence Beaty, Prudential director of new homes and land division.
Single-family home sales have increased 13.1 percent in the state since last year and condominium sales have increased 5.2 percent.
Nationwide, home prices increased in August by as much as 18 percent in some states on a year-over-year basis, according to a recent CoreLogic report.
The national average increased 4.6 percent as well, which is the largest year-to-year increase in more than six years.
But while most states are seeing a turnaround on price, Connecticut was among the six states to see a decrease in prices compared with August 2011, according to CoreLogic. Its report showed home prices decreased 0.5 percent in August compared with a year earlier.
Connecticut was one of the last states to feel the effects of the housing market crash, which is why it”™s one of the last to come out of it, Beaty said.
The buying population in Connecticut is different than other states due to high personal incomes and older demographics. In Fairfield County, there is also a higher disparity between home values. If a $13 million home is selling for $10 million, the median and average home price index will be greatly affected.
The median price for a Fairfield County home this quarter is $463,000, while the state median price is $250,000, according to Prudential. In the third quarter of 2011, the Fairfield County median price was $495,000 and the state was $255,500.
Offering yet another slightly different picture, a recent report by The Warren Group shows the median price of a single-family home in Connecticut has already leveled off and was unchanged in August compared with August 2011.
In fact, according to the New England real estate data group, the median price of a Fairfield County home increased 1.8 percent in August year-over-year to $520,000. Litchfield, Middlesex and New Haven countries also saw increases between 2.1 percent and 3.4 percent. However decreases in other counties evened the score. New London saw the biggest decrease at 2.2 percent.
“You have to balance the negative with the positive,” said Joanne Carroll, sales and marketing council chairwomen of the Home Builders Association of Connecticut. “The only element that”™s missing right now is the prices themselves.”
While home prices might still be decreasing, they”™ve been decreasing by less each quarter, Carroll said. Additionally, home sales are up, inventory is down and new building permits are up.
“No doubt about it, we”™re still in the negative,” Carroll said. “But I think we”™re trending in the right direction.”
By the end of either next quarter or the first quarter of 2013, both Carroll and Beaty said they expect to see an increase in price.
