CT home sales drop off in tax credit’s wake

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Connecticut saw its lowest level of monthly single-family home sales in two decades in August, according to a report released today by real estate tracking firm the Warren Group. Just 2,218 single-family homes sold that month, down 14.9 percent from the same month a year earlier. Paradoxically, 2010 on the whole is showing more activity than 2009 — 17,133 single-family homes have sold in Connecticut so far this year, compared to 15,078 during the same time period in 2009. Timothy Warren, CEO of the Warren Group, said that this drop-off is due to the expiration of the first-time homebuyer tax credit. “Home sales have dropped all over the country in the aftermath of the homebuyer tax credit, and Connecticut is no exception,” Warren said.

Condominium sales, meanwhile, also declined in August. Monthly condo sales reached 551, down 26.6 percent from August 2009. Year-to-date condo sales have shown the same pattern as single-family home sales, according to Warren Group data. Total condo sales so far this year have reached 4,888 — up 13.3 percent from the same time period a year earlier.

Both condos and single-family homes showed positive momentum in their selling price. The median sale price for single-family homes climbed 7 percent year-over-year to $272,250, while condo median prices increased 6.9 percent to $193,000. TRD