My New Blog

It’s not all doom and gloom in the Connecticut housing market. Although there are daily articles written about the surplus of houses, foreclosures, the sub-prime debacle and the drop in new construction starts. The Connecticut market is not the worse in the country.

In reviewing a recent survey from the National Association of Realtors the actual sales of properties in 2007 in the area was approximately 13% less than 2006, and 2006 was the 3^rd best real estate market in Ct in the last 20 years. In addition, the actual value of homes in Ct increased by 2-½% this past year.

This demonstrates that a house that is priced realistically has a good chance of being sold in a reasonable time span, which in the current market should be within 120-150 days. Buyers with established credit should have little trouble in getting a decent mortgage, and with the rates being adjusted weekly, a 6-7 % mortgage rate is not an unrealistic number. As always, the buyer with little or no money, or credit problems will find it difficult to get a mortgage, just because lenders have gone back to doing business in a more traditional manner, which protects everybody.

I have taken the time to chart the 2006 and 2007 sales of houses in several towns around the greater Waterbury area that I currently service. The figures are noted as total residential sales in each of the years.

As always, do your homework properly, use a qualified full time Realtor, and your real estate transaction will go smoothly.

Town		2006	2007
Beacon Falls		40	37
Bethany		62	54
Bristol		564	534
Cheshire		280	276
Middlebury		116	83
Naugatuck		373	296
Prospect		91	80
Waterbury		885	688
Watertown		197	177
Wolcott		146	166