Report: Houses spending more time on Greenwich market

The fourth-quarter report on the Greenwich-area housing market from brokerage firm Houlihan Lawrence shows that there was a flurry of activity even though houses may be on the market longer.

“The number of properties under contract was more than 50% higher than a year ago, suggesting the first quarter of 2020 will be a good one,” said David Haffenreffer, regional manager of the firm”™s Greenwich and Sound Shore offices.

Homes averaged 256 days on the market in 2019, compared with 201 days in 2018 and 184 days 10 years ago in 2010.

Stephen Meyers, Houlihan Lawrence”™s chairman, along with CEO Chris Meyers, said there will be great opportunities coming to market in early spring for buyers who are ready to buy.

“The Federal Reserve has indicated that interest rates are expected to stay low, so 2020 presents optimism that many more deals will come together in the markets north of New York City,” they said.

In Old Greenwich, 98 homes were sold in 2019 compared with 87 in 2018. The average sale price was up to $2,323,307, compared with $2,166,274 in 2018. The median price was rose to $2.1 million compared with $1.85 million in 2018.

Riverside saw a drop in the number of home sales from 107 in 2018 to 85 in 2019. The average sale price fell from $2,353,592 in 2018 to $1,929,823 in 2019. The median sale price was down from $1.85 million to $1.7 million.

In Cos Cob, the number of homes sold dropped from 83 in 2018 to 55 in 2019. The average sale price was down from $1,564,416 in 2018 to $1,237,305 in 2019. The median sale price declined to $1.07 million from $1.4 million in 2018.

The Greenwich area south of Post Road saw 62 homes sold in 2019 compared with 68 in 2018. However, the average sale price jumped from $2,371,594 in 2018 to $2,896,440 last year. The median sale price was up from $1.4 million in 2018 to $2 million last year.

There were 163 homes sold in the Greenwich area south of the Merritt Parkway, a drop  from the 203 homes sold in 2018. The average sale price was $2,536,470 in 2019 compared with $2,670,378 in 2018. The median price went up to $2.02 million compared with $1.95 million in 2018.

North of the Merritt Parkway, the number of Greenwich home sales for 2019 stood at 62 compared with 45 in 2018. The average sale price fell from $3,264,086 in 2018 to $3,156,247 in 2019. The median price was down from $2.62 million to $2.25 million.

In a separate report by Houlihan Lawrence on the luxury market, sales of Greenwich homes in the price range of $3 million and up were off by 18.7% from 2018. There were 126 homes sold in 2019 versus 155 in 2018. Dollar volume for 2019 was down to $633.8 million compared with $769.2 million in 2018.

The Darien luxury market was up in 2019 with 60 homes valued at $2 million or more sold in 2019 compared with 56 in 2018. Dollar volume increased to $192.9 million from $179.4 million in the prior year. The median sale price was down to $2.5 million. It had been $2,676,250 in 2018.

In New Canaan, there was a drop in luxury home sales at $2 million or more in 2019. Forty-six units were sold compared with 59 in 2018. Dollar volume sank to $123.6 million from $168.1 million in 2018.