Hartford Business Journal

18 Hartford Business Journal • July 13, 2020 • www.HartfordBusiness.com By Joe Cooper jcooper@hartfordbusiness.com B ruce and Brianna Gasiew- eski were cautiously wait- ing to sell their beginner home in West Hartford until the COVID-19 pandemic hit Connecticut and forced many potential sellers to leave the spring and summer market. As new Hartford County listings plummeted year-over-year by more than 33% in May, the couple was advised by friends in the homebuy- ing industry to sell their house near West Hartford Center while there were few competitors. After the first two of 19 scheduled showings, the Gasieweskis received of- fers well above asking price and struck a deal in just eight hours last month. "Once we heard how hot the market was, my wife had come around to my nudging that we should sell and get more land," said Bruce Gas- ieweski, adding that he expects to close on the sale sometime this month. "As we were nego- tiating, more offers were coming in that we didn't even pay attention to." Area Realtors say the Gasieweskis are among many local homeown- ers benefiting from bidding wars, in what's turned into Connecticut's first seller's market since before the 2008 Great Recession. That's being driven, in part, by record low mortgage rates (in the low 3% range); pent-up demand as the state eases coronavirus-related restrictions; and a weak supply of inventory, which was already down entering 2020, among other factors. Matthew Miale, CEO of real estate agency The Miale Team of Keller Williams, said there are far more buyers than sellers, which is mainly why me- dian home sale prices climbed 2% to $246,750 in May. Closed sales dipped nearly 15% that same month, but Realtors say that number is mis- leading because there were 513 fewer new listings (1,029) year-over-year. Homebuying supply and demand is also lopsided nationally as a Seattle brokerage estimated that more than 40% of U.S. homes faced a bidding war in the four weeks ending May 10. That's up from 9% in the year-ago period. "The market is eating inventory at a rate faster than it's producing it," said Miale, noting that urban migration from New York City and other nearby cities is not yet having an impact on Greater Hartford's real estate market. "Due to the lack of in- ventory, we have double the amount of buyers than we do sellers." The major dip in inventory comes during a time (spring and summer months) when the number of homes for sale typically far exceeds the num- ber of interested buyers in Connecti- cut, which has suffered from one of the worst real estate appreciation rates in the country in recent years, according to multiple industry analysts. That will not likely continue in 2021. Miale and other real estate agents project median prices will continue to rise for the next six months before flat- tening. Prices could decline modestly next year if Connecticut still has a high unemployment rate, they say. "Those in the market need to under- stand there's very likely a temporary nature to this," Miale said. "This is an impact of COVID that has created an upswing in the marketplace. This isn't actually economically stimulated." Realtors optimistic despite pandemic When Gov. Ned Lamont closed schools in mid-March amid the CO- VID-19 outbreak, Hartford area Realtors said they braced for a homebuying slump. But that never happened. In fact, numerous brokers recently interviewed by HBJ said they are projecting higher year-over-year sales in 2020. Century 21 Clemens Group is see- ing significant buying demand for ev- erything from smaller, $100,000-to- $200,000 homes, to luxury dwellings priced $750,000 or above, said Adam Clemens, a Realtor and vice president of sales at the Glastonbury-based agency. But higher-priced homes, on average, continue to stay on the market longer, Clemens said. "There are many towns in central Connecticut where you are seeing houses fly off the market in a matter of days," he said. Realtors say Berlin, Rocky Hill, Wethersfield, Glastonbury and Farmington Valley towns, among others, are the most competitive housing markets right now. Strong Seller's Market Low mortgage rates, supply ignite Greater Hartford homebuying bidding wars Hartford County single-family housing market data Single family May Year to Date 2019 2020 % Change Thru May 2019 Thru May 2020 % Change New listings 1,542 1,029 -33.3% 5,583 4,478 -19.8% Closed sales 848 722 -14.9% 3,040 3,086 1.5% Days on the market until sale 58 57 -1.7% 70 64 -8.6% Median sales prices $242,000 $246,750 2% $224,000 $235,000 4.9% Average sales price $273,210 $289,570 6% $256,939 $271,014 5.5% Source: MLS/The Miale Team Matthew Miale, CEO, The Miale Team of Keller Williams Adam Clemens, Vice President of Sales, Century 21 Clemens Group Vincent Verrillo, Broker, The Verrillo Group A West Hartford home listed for sale by The Miale Team. PHOTO | CONTRIBUTED

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