A home in Greenwich, Conn., can easily have seven bathrooms. Each year, the town’s high school sends dozens of students to Ivy League universities. Its public beaches are among the state’s largest and most pristine. The well-heeled suburb’s per-capita income is three times that of most of its Northeastern peers.
So it’s no wonder the town regularly finds itself on top 10 lists of most desirable U.S. areas. But Greenwich, which has about 60,000 residents, might not be so different from the rest of the nation after all. Sales and prices have slipped in recent months, as inventory has climbed and average time on the market has stretched from three to six months.
Plus, in late September, Greenwich experienced a rare foreclosure auction. An indicted hedge-fund manager lost his 7,300-square-foot dwelling, complete with a spa and waterfall.
“We’re not immune to larger problems,” said Nancy Healy, a partner at Greenwich brokerage Shore & Country Properties.
From January through August, 380 single-family homes traded hands in Greenwich, versus 562 in the year-ago period: a sharp 32 percent decrease, according to the Greenwich Multiple Listing Service.
But buyers shouldn’t go bargain hunting just yet. In the same period, median prices dipped from $2.1 to $1.99 million, only about 5 percent.
In fact, 2008’s biggest sales were still substantial: The priciest was a six-bedroom, 20-acre property that sold for $18 million, and the fifth most expensive was a seven-bedroom home in the “back country”— the rural area north of the Merritt Parkway — that went for $13.8 million.
Few of these properties will ever face foreclosure because local lenders generally insist on 30 percent down payments, something “our California clients are always frustrated by, because they’re used to putting down 10 percent,” said David Ogilvy, founding broker of David Ogilvy & Associates.
Many builders and real estate agents
see Riverside, on the town’s southern edge,
as the growth area. Architect Mark Strazza and his builder, his brother Ralph, are
developing Finney Knoll, a seven-unit subdivision there. So far, five of their deep-eaved homes have sold, and the sixth, a 4,000-square-foot four-bedroom residence, is listed for $2.4 million.
The Strazzas are facing a much tighter sales market for this property, but they believe being in Riverside and near the Metro-North train station will help sales.
One bright spot for Greenwich has been sales of condos, which made up a sliver of the town’s housing stock a decade ago but now comprise about 10 percent, or 23,000 units. While sales fell from 165 to 119 in the January-to-August period, a 28 percent drop, the median price barely budged, from $750,000 to $725,000.
The demand, say developers, comes from across-the-border Westchester residents who flock to Connecticut to enjoy taxes that can be as much as two-thirds lower.
Condo buyers are also often in-town empty nesters looking for smaller units with less maintenance; they also want to be within walking distance of Greenwich Avenue, the central business district nicknamed “Rodeo Drive East.” That’s a major selling point for Beacon Hill, a 2-acre, eight-unit condo development a few blocks away. Its 5,000-square-foot Shingle-style townhomes, which feature elevators, media rooms and optional wine cellars, start at $3 million.
One contract has been signed since marketing began this fall, but acknowledging the market’s turbulence, developer Belray Capital has indefinitely postponed groundbreaking for the eight units in the second phase of Beacon Hill, a $43 million project. “We’ll do it when we feel more comfortable with the economy,” said Ronald Young, principal with Belray Capital.
Greenwich Oaks and Greenwich Place, which were supposed to be condo conversions of two rental complexes in the Byram neighborhood, haven’t fared as well. Backed by Lehman Brothers, which collapsed in September, developer Antares Investment Partners paid $223 million for the 396 units in February 2006 but ran into difficulty selling them. The properties went into foreclosure last December.
In the long view, the appeal of Greenwich real estate is almost undeniable. Beautiful antique abodes line twisting tree-shaded roads, just a short drive from commercial districts that offer urban amenities in village settings.
While prices in Old Greenwich start at $500,000, there are $300,000 alternatives in Pemberwick, on the town’s western side. Although Wall Street job losses may be a concern, numerous hedge funds are based here, which can thrive on the kind of volatility seen in roiling markets.
“You can find about whatever you want here,” said broker Nancy Healy, “except for maybe a men’s field hockey team.”