What will you pay -- or get -- for this Westport home? A lot less than 5 years ago.
A local realtor — hoping to separate reality from rumor — recently ran some numbers.
She examined all Westport sales of single-family homes in the $500,000-$2 million range — the majority of Westport properties. She used median prices rather than averages, because a few sales at either the high or low end can skew the average. She found:
2006 — 305 homes sold
Median listing price: $1,299,000
Median selling price: $1,255,000
Difference between listing and selling prices: 96.6%
2009 — 183 homes sold
Median listing price: $988,000
Median selling price: $940,000
Difference between listing and selling prices: 95%
Difference between 2006 and 2009: Down 26% in sales dollars, down 40% in volume
January 1-February 28,2010 — 27 homes sold
Median listing price: $1,158,000
Median selling price: $1,075,000
Difference between listing and selling prices: 92.8%
January 1-February 28,2010 — 27 homes under contract
Median listing price: $988,000
What’s it all mean?
“To me, the lower median prices at the beginning of this year are because the tax rebate is getting the low-end and first-time buyers to buy,” she says. “And it shows that if houses are priced right, they go fairly quickly.”
Homes in higher ranges usually start selling in March. In fact, she says, March is traditionally the strongest sales month — followed by April and May.
A typical comparative sale, she says, is a “charming Currier and Ives” home on Anchor Lane off North Compo, across from Winslow Park. In 2005 it was listed at $1,195,000, and sold fast — at the listing price.
This year the same home came on the market at $949,900. Again it sold quickly — again at the listing price.
“If the price is right, you’ll sell,” the realtor says.
“But people still have a hard time realizing they’re not going to get what their neighbors got 5 years ago.”
She adds: “On the one hand, that’s sad.
“On the other, maybe it will mean we’ll get more younger buyers coming in. For a while, Westport was one of the fastest-growing graying markets around.”
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