Home sales down, but condo and townhouse purchases up in CT, data shows

But that appears to be a result of far fewer listings across Connecticut this year — nearly 2,300 fewer properties in all — leaving some buyers biding their time to see how the market might change this spring.

Stamford led the state with more than 360 transactions in the first three months of the year, a 13 percent decline from 2021. More than half of Stamford sales were condos, with multiple units selling for more than $1.1 million apiece in the Park Tower Stamford complex.

“In mid-city, there were 88 condos sold and it was concentrated in one block — that’s crazy,” said Roxana Bajra, a Berkshire Hathaway agent who is president of the Stamford Board of Realtors. “Inventory for single-family homes is down, and they are saying, ‘I am going to sell my house, but where am I going to go?’”

Bajra said some of those condos continue to be purchased by New York City residents looking for an alternative.

Waterbury led the state in single-family home sales at just over 200 in the first quarter, while Bridgeport was second with about 180, data shows.

Stratford was the largest market in Connecticut to see an increase in home sales with 215 transactions — six more than 2021, the data shows. New Haven also saw a bump from the first quarter of last year, due to its condo market.

Statewide, Connecticut properties are selling faster this year — the median transaction closed in just 27 days versus 41 days in the first quarter of 2021.

Sellers are getting 1.3 percent more than what they asked earlier this year.

In some instances at the high end of the market, some homeowners are selling for less than what they sought. The Israel Peck estate on Round Hill Road in Greenwich was the top transaction in Connecticut and sold for $11.8 million in January after being listed in 2019 for nearly $16 million.

But others are seeing bidding wars. In Westport, a beach house facing Long Island Sound sold for $7.5 million in early March, a $550,000 increase over its February listing price. That beat a $7 million sale in Darien as the top transaction in Connecticut outside of Greenwich.

Killingly’s 100-acre Pattaconk Farm was the top sale outside of Fairfield County, going for nearly $6.8 million in February.

“There’s still a lot of activity in the upper end,” said Paul Breunich, CEO of William Pitt Sotheby’s International Realty based in Stamford. “That’s still the New York buyer coming in.”