Greenwich Open Houses, September 2

For Sunday, September 2nd, we have 17 open houses in Old Greenwich, Riverside, Central Greenwich, Byram and mid-country. We have 6 listings in the very busy segment under $1 million. We also have a nice assortment above $2 million, but only two houses between $1 and $2 million as many people including Realtors head out for a long Labor Day vacation.

You can see the live interactive map here and the open house list below. For detailed instructions for the interactive map see GreenwichStreets.com. 

MARKET REPORT

The most complete set of numbers on the Greenwich real estate market are produced by Fred DeCaro at SearchGreenwich.net. All of the major real estate companies in town subscribe to his numbers which come from the Greenwich Town Clerk's office.

*Greenwich Real Estate Values up 30%

When people talk about prices in Greenwich they often focus on the average price and equate their home values as being up or down based on whether this number is up or down. The problem with using the average, particularly, in Greenwich is that a small change in the sales of the most expensive houses can make a significant change in the average.

For this reason many people use the median instead of the average, i.e. the number that is halfway between lowest and highest sales. The median has the advantage of not being whipsawed by a few high sales.

Both the average and the median have the problem that these numbers only are comparable year to year if the sales in each price range stay proportional. This didn't happen this year and both the average and the median dropped a lot. For example in March the median price was down 32% and the average sales price was down 23% compared to March 2011. The drop in price was simply because sales below $1MM were up 53% while sales over $5MM were down 23%. Mathematically, the average and the median had to drop. 

Sales Price to Assessment Ratio Shows Real Estate Prices Going Up in Greenwich

MARKET REPORT

The most complete set of numbers on the Greenwich real estate market are produced by Fred DeCaro at SearchGreenwich.net. All of the major real estate companies in town subscribe to his numbers which come from the Greenwich Town Clerk's office.

*Greenwich Real Estate Values up 30%

When people talk about prices in Greenwich they often focus on the average price and equate their home values as being up or down based on whether this number is up or down. The problem with using the average, particularly, in Greenwich is that a small change in the sales of the most expensive houses can make a significant change in the average.

For this reason many people use the median instead of the average, i.e. the number that is halfway between lowest and highest sales. The median has the advantage of not being whipsawed by a few high sales.

Both the average and the median have the problem that these numbers only are comparable year to year if the sales in each price range stay proportional. This didn't happen this year and both the average and the median dropped a lot. For example in March the median price was down 32% and the average sales price was down 23% compared to March 2011. The drop in price was simply because sales below $1MM were up 53% while sales over $5MM were down 23%. Mathematically, the average and the median had to drop.

Sales Price to Assessment Ratio Shows Real Estate Prices Going Up in Greenwich

As reported by searchGreenwich.net we had 80 sales of single family homes in Greenwich in July, including 6 properties that were not listed on the Greenwich MLS. This is way up over last year when sales were depressed due to the 7/1/10 increase in the conveyance tax, but it is even up 24% over the six year average. For the year sales are down slightly, but we are catching up quickly.

You can also see from the red line in August that we are already at 50 sales with a week to go and not including non-GMLS sales. Overall we are seeing a significantly better sales in June, July and August than we had seen earlier in the year even when the sales are seasonally adjusted. With an uncertain tax regime for next year, this is a good time to get into the real estate market.

GREENWICH, CT OPEN HOUSE LIST FOR SEPTEMBER 2, 2012