Community Corner
'Back to the Future' in Westport Real Estate
Highlights of local real estate statistics and trends in Westport in the past 10 years.
We have seen some interesting trends in the past decade in Westport. I wanted to share some real estate data from our Multiple Listing Service from 2001-2010 (through November). Taking us “Back To the Future” in Westport Real Estate requires some detail.
Let’s examine some key areas that gauge the market, specifically, number of units closed (sold), “days on market”, median listing price, and median sale price. There are some distinct patterns in all of these areas. Let’s break out what appears to be the peak years for Westport real estate in these same areas. The peak year for number of closings was 2004 at 470. While 2005 only saw only a slight drop to 462, 2006 was a whole new game.
That year, closed units dropped to 376, amounting to a 18 percent reduction in closings. Buyers began putting on the brakes and became more cautious in the market. We saw the beginning of the leverage shift between buyers and sellers, evidenced by buyers who appeared to be getting bolder on renegotiating inspection items and placing offers on more than one home at a time.
Find out what's happening in Westportwith free, real-time updates from Patch.
Over the past 10 years, the “days on market” has hovered between 80-107, with one aberration in 2009, when it rose to 127, indicating serious buyer resistance and some sellers who may have been late to the pricing war game. The height of the Westport market for median listing price at $1,418,750 and median sales price at $1,350,000 was seen in 2007.
However, the most significant data that we have tracked shows that our current median listing price of $1,199,000 and current median sales price of $1,140,000 is closest to those experienced in 2004. The median list price then was $1,125,000 and the median sales price was $1,100,000. The conclusion that we draw is that the Westport market is showing similar results to 2004 in 2010.
Find out what's happening in Westportwith free, real-time updates from Patch.
The translation: if you purchased after 2004, you, most likely experienced your equity building until 2007 and back down to 2004 pricing. So we are “back to the future” in Westport real estate. It’s also considered the new norm. Our next post will delve into the number one marketing tool in real estate: pricing.
