Connecticut Real Estate News

Nine Darien CT homes closed in September 2008

Highest Price:
25 Driftway Lane
$2,975,000
Market time 63 days

Lowest Price:
10 Warner Drive
$526,875
Market time 19 days

Monthly Darien Stats:
Average selling price: $1,415,208
Median Selling Price $1,124,000
Average selling days on market 80
Average percentage of asking price 93%

In September 2008, nine Darien homes sold in vs 22 the month before. The number sold is down to 47% of the nineteen homes sold in September 2007. Three of the homes sold for less than $1 million and three sold for more than 2 million. The month to month average selling price of a single family Darien home is down slightly and the median is slightly higher. Dollar sales volume for September '08 is about 29% of the volume recorded for September of 2007.

For a complete list of Darien CT homes for sale, please call RealtyQuest at 203-656-4993 or visit http://www.realtyquest.com/.

Darien Nantucket Colonial for Rent

Wow, what a crazy last few months this has been for Darien real estate. Uncertainty about the value of any house has increased. Nearly everyone has taken a hit on the value of their home in the past few months. Realtors all hope we hit the bottom of the real estate market soon so we can start selling homes again.

Our buyers want to buy, but they lack the confidence to go forward. No home buyer wants to buy a house today for more than it will be worth next month or next year. Sellers want to sell, but many of them still don't seem to understand how much their home is really worth. Take a tour of the inventory and you will see that at least half the houses on the market are priced 10% too high.

So, with demand down and prices out of whack, selling one's home today is a challenge. The key to successfully selling your home in this market is pricing. Unfortunately, getting in front of a downward real estate curve is never fun when you are selling your home. To truly get a buyers attention in today's market, home sellers need to put their home on for less than it is worth. For example, if you have a home that seems to be worth 1.2 million dollars, it is possible that to sell it you will need to set a marketing price of 1.1 million to get a motivated buyers attention.

Despite all the financial doom and gloom, all the good financial reasons for buying real estate still exist. Interest on mortgage loans is deductible, property tax is deductible. With a traditional real estate mortgage that is paid over time homeowners end up owning a valuable asset instead of just paying rent. And of course, long term, real estate is still a great investment. Although home sellers today may have to sell their home for less than they would like, the house they will buy will also cost less. With proper research one can find some great real estate bargains at all price levels. And it is important to remember that historically real estate has always gone up. Think long term and real estate doesn't seem bad!

Darien Connecticut made the news and was referenced on Yahoo! as the town most likely to be hit hardest by the nation's financial crisis, (http://finance.yahoo.com/real-estate/article/105861/Towns-That-Could-Be-Hit-Hardest-by-the-Financial-Crisis). Whether or not we are the hardest hit, it is a fact that prices of homes in Darien are down. Volume of homes is sold is down. Inventory of available homes is high.

I am encouraged though by the increasing number of sellers who understand that asking too much for their home is just a waste of time. The gap between initial asking price and final selling price of homes needs to shrink for our real estate market to work properly. In my opinion, realtors need to show more discipline when working with unrealistic sellers. What is the point of listing a home that will never sell? There are times when a realtor just needs to say to the prospective seller, "No, I can't help you sell your home at that price".

The market for real estate in our area still has a way to go before we find the bottom, but I feel we are almost there. As sellers continue to become more realistic our real estate market will become more balanced, houses will begin to move again and home buyer confidence will improve. I can't wait!