Stamford continued to display positive growth during 2019, with above average home sales, a falling unemployment rate and a county-leading leasing rate.
According to the city”™s Economic Development Department”™s fourth-quarter report, leasing activity surged in the final quarter of 2019, with over 613,000 square feet of commercial deals being signed, compared with 353,000 square feet in 2018. The largest deal was the renewal of Synchrony”™s 313,000-square-foot headquarters at 777 Long Ridge, followed by ITV”™s 35,543-square-foot lease at 860 Canal and Thomson Reuters”™ 28,000-square-foot lease at 677 Washington Blvd.
Other notable corporate tenants that were retained during the fourth quarter included Ernst & Young, Citizens Bank, Morgan Stanley, Jefferies, Refinitiv and Oppenheimer.
Stamford was responsible for nearly 50% of all leasing activity in Fairfield County for the quarter, with both its central business district and non-CBD submarkets seeing improvement, according to the report. The CBD availability rate finished the year at 26.9%, with the non-CBD rate at 34.9%.
On the sales side, the fourth quarter saw the 240-unit luxury apartment complex Infinity Harbor Point sell for $90 million and the 101,000-square-foot class A office building at 1010 Washington Blvd. going for over $23 million.
Stamford closed out the quarter with an 186 home sales, compared with 192 in the previous fourth quarter, and ended the year with 808 home sales, compared with 745 in Q4 2018. The average home sale price during Q4 was $628,996, and the median was $573,000.
The condo market continued to cool down with 515 condos sold during the year. compared to 579 in 2018 and 614 in 2017. This quarter saw combined sales of over $43 million, compared to $44 million in 2018 and $51 million in 2017.
The report said there are over 5,400 apartment units in development throughout the city. Recently opened apartments include Allure at Harbor Point with 435 units, and URBY Stamford with 648 units.
The city”™s unemployment rate now stands at 2.9%, down from 3.1% in 2019. Stamford”™s labor force grew by over 800 people in 2019, and is the largest in the state with 71,758 workers.
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