Connecticut Home Sales Plunge In October

Sales of single-family homes and condominiums in Connecticut continued slumping in October, sinking by double-digit percentages from a year earlier, according to ""The Warren Group"":http://www.thewarrengroup.com, a provider of real estate data for the New England area.
While sales plunged 17 percent in October, home values in the state also slid, the research firm said. Median single-family home and condo prices tumbled by more than 10 percent in October compared to a year ago, based on The Warren Group's market analysis.
""Connecticut's October housing report is markedly different from what happened in other parts of New England,"" explained Timothy Warren Jr., CEO of The Warren Group. ""Both Massachusetts and Rhode Island posted considerable gains in single-family home sales during the month of October.
""October was the ninth month in 2008 that home sales in Connecticut were off by more than 15 percent, and this is the third month that prices dropped by about 11 percent,"" continued Warren. ""Without a significant uptick in home sales for several months, price declines aren't likely to level off.""
Connecticut home sales for the month tallied 2,121, down from 2,554 in October 2007. The steep 17 percent drop follows a moderate dip in sales in September, The Warren Group said. In September, sales were down 5.3 percent from a year ago bucking a 12-month trend of double-digit percentage declines. A total of 21,507 single-family home sales were sold from January through October, a 23.8 percent decrease from the 28,234 home sales during the same period last year, according to The Warren Group's market data for the state.
The median home price in the state retreated 10.8 percent to $250,000, from $280,280 last year. Year-to-date median prices are down 9 percent to $273,000, the firm said.
According to The Warren Group, Windham and Fairfield counties have had the steepest drops in median home prices so far this year. In Fairfield County, the median price for homes sold through October was $535,000, nearly 11 percent lower than the $600,000 median price the firm recorded last year. Windham County's median price for the first 10 months of 2008 sank 12.8 percent to $191,000, down from $219,000.
Statewide condominium prices dove 10.4 percent in October to $190,000, down from $212,000 a year ago, marking the biggest decline in monthly condo prices so far this year, The Warren Group said. The median price for condos sold during the first 10 months of 2008 slipped 2.4 percent to $200,000, from $205,000 during the same period last year.
Condo sales in Connecticut plummeted 34 percent during the month of October. For the year, a total of 7,570 condos were sold through October, 33 percent fewer than the 11,304 condo sales in the same months last year, The Warren Group said.