Average sales prices down in Fairfield County housing market

Average sales prices in Fairfield County”™s single-family, condo and luxury housing markets during the third quarter saw declines on quarter-over-quarter measurements, according to data released by Douglas Elliman Real Estate.

The average sales price in Fairfield County during the third quarter was $659,259, down from $675,269 in the second quarter and unchanged from one year earlier.

However, the median sales price was $425,000, unchanged from the second quarter and up from $410,000 in the third quarter of 2017.

“It”™s a buyer”™s market,” said Scott Elwell, Douglas Elliman”™s senior executive regional manager of Westchester and Connecticut. “The median price increased year-over-year for the sixth time in seven quarters.”

Elwell added that he expects to see an increase in completed residential property transactions during the fourth quarter, and he noted that the county is in a tight competition with Westchester for prospective buyers. “We”™re seeing more and more cross-border competition with the tax laws,” he said.

The number of closed sales for the third quarter totaled 3,339, up from 3,087 in the second quarter, but slightly lower than the 3,361 sales from the third quarter of 2017. The average number of days on market totaled 82 in the third quarter, down from 119 days in both the previous quarter and previous year.

Listing inventory in the third quarter totaled 5,535, which was lower than the 5,853 level of the previous quarter and the 5,611 level from one year earlier.

The average sales price for a single-family Fairfield County home in the third quarter was $763,162, a drop from the second quarter”™s $765,537. The average during the third quarter of 2017 was $752,023.

The median single-family sales price in the third quarter was $500,000, an uptick from the $495,650 price in the second quarter and up from the $470,000 price from one year earlier. A total of 2,547 single-family homes were sold, up from 2,388 in the second quarter, but slightly lower than the 2,592 homes sold in the third quarter of last year.

The average sales price for condos in Fairfield County during the third quarter was $324,328, which marked a decline from the $366,883 sales price in the second quarter and the $346,365 price recorded one year ago. The median sales price of $275,000 was a drop from the $280,000 price in the second quarter, but was identical to the median sales price in the third quarter of 2017. There were 794 condos sold in the third quarter, compared with 699 condos in the preceding quarter and 769 one year earlier.

In the county”™s luxury market, the average third-quarter sales price was $2.39 million, a drop from the $2.56 million price set in the second quarter and the $2.5 million price from one year earlier. The median sales price of $1.9 million was lower than the $1.99 million price in the previous quarter and the $1.95 million level one year earlier. Sales activity totaled 338 properties, higher than the 313 properties sold in the second quarter and slightly lower than the 341 properties sold in the third quarter of 2017.

Among the Fairfield County submarkets, Greenwich recorded the highest average sales price for a single-family home at $2.27 million, down from $2.46 million in the previous quarter and $2.67 million one year earlier. For the condo market, Darien had the highest average sales price at $804,500, down from the $1.5 million price in the second quarter and the third quarter of last year.