January Home Sales, Prices Plunge in Connecticut

Sales of single-family homes and condominiums in Connecticut plummeted more than 35 percent in January from a year earlier, according to a report released this week by ""The Warren Group"":http://www.thewarrengroup.com, publisher of The Commercial Record and a provider of real estate data throughout the New England area.
There were 1,057 single-family home sales in Connecticut in January, a 36.1 percent decline from 1,654 in January 2008, the research group said. It was the slowest sales pace for single-family homes for the month of January in the 21 years that The Warren Group has been tracking Connecticut’s residential real estate market.
Timothy M. Warren Jr., CEO of The Warren Group, commented, ""These numbers are dramatic and disturbing. Rather than seeing some kind of moderation in the housing decline it appears to be picking up steam.
""What this indicates is that while housing problems may have started the financial meltdown, the financial meltdown is now prolonging the housing problems,"" Warren said.
The median selling price for single-family homes in Connecticut fell 17.1 percent to $223,000, the lowest price recorded for the month of January in six years. January marked the fourth consecutive month that the median selling price for single-family homes in the state has dropped by double-digit percentages, The Warren Group said.
Connecticut's condo sales also plunged, reaching their lowest level in 16 years, according to the New England research company. There were 354 condo sales transactions recorded for the month, down 40 percent from 588 in January 2008. Only February 1993, with 338 recorded condo transactions, had fewer sales. Condo sales have fallen by more than 30 percent for 10 out of the last 13 months, The Warren Group said.
Despite the steep decline in sales transactions, the research firm reported that the median price for condos dipped only 2.4 percent, to $183,500 from $188,000 last year.