Real Estate in the 1st Quarter
Words from Paul Breunich, President of William Pitt Sotheby’s International Realty:
Hello everyone,
Our 2021 First Quarter Market Watch is now live on williampitt.com.
Before the onset of the pandemic last March, the first quarter of 2020 was a time of brisk sales, with single family unit closings and dollar volume soaring over the same period the prior year. But in the first three months of 2021, closed unit sales and volume in most of our markets increased dramatically over that notably robust first quarter of 2020.
In the first quarter of 2021, Westchester County single family unit sales and dollar volume grew by 34% and 53%, respectively, over the same period last year, while neighboring Fairfield County saw an uptick of 29% in units and 81% in volume. Moving up the Connecticut Shoreline, sales increased by 19% in units and 46% in volume in New Haven County, 20% in units and 57% in volume in Middlesex County, and 7% in units and 33% in volume in New London County. In Litchfield County, unit sales climbed ahead of the same time last year by 26% and dollar volume by 65%. Hartford County’s sales decreased a small 3% in units but volume rose by 15%, as Berkshire County saw units up by 12% and volume by 44%.
The momentum should continue well into the future, a view supported by the data on properties currently under contract. Our internal company figures show pending unit sales and dollar volume on our own listings tracking to the activity we’re observing in the wider marketplace, suggesting another substantial quarter in sales ahead.
As explosive as the housing market may be, inventory is nonetheless keeping it in check. In this report we have supplied charts that reveal just how low inventory is this year versus years past. New listings taken since the beginning of 2021 are comparatively few and far between, and there aren’t enough of them to meet the incredible demand still surging out of New York. This lack of listings has created an environment where bidding wars are commonplace and well-priced properties are accepting offers significantly over ask, often all in cash.
The significant spread between unit sales and dollar volume is another key finding. Since the summer, gains in volume are consistently much higher than those in unit sales across our markets, a sign that more properties are transacting at higher price points. This trend is also reflected in the rising 12-month median selling price for single family homes in most of our markets.
Please read the full report on our website at http://www.williampitt.com/eng/market-reports.
