Liv Heil ’10
Staff Writer
After reaching historical highs in 2006, home prices in the United States began falling until reaching a record low decline of 19.1 percent in the first quarter of 2009, according to the Case-Shiller U.S. National Home Price Index.
However, according to Westport real estate agents Susan Seath and Marcie Pajolek of Coldwell Banker Riverside, Westport has weathered the storm fairly well compared to national averages.
“The average sale price of homes in Westport continually increased over the last 15 years with 2008 having the highest average sale price of $1,708,804. At the year end of 2009 we were at $1,419,436 – a decrease of 16.9 percent. So prices have not tumbled here,” Seath said.
Although home prices in Westport have not been affected as badly as national averages, Westport has experienced a significant decrease in the number of units sold.
In 2004, 501 units were sold in Westport, 488 in 2005, 400 in 2006, 408 in 2007, 271 in 2008, and 250 in 2009.
Despite the fact that twice as many transactions were made in 2004 than in 2009, Westport experienced only an 11 percent decrease in units sold from 2008 to 2009; a great improvement compared to the decrease in the previous year.
Though it is still too early to know for sure whether or not the Westport real estate market bottomed in 2009, real estate agents at Westport’s Coldwell Banker Riverside are somewhat optimistic for 2010.
“I definitely think the market has bottomed, but I don’t believe the market will decline much further; I think the market is going to remain rather flat and stable for the next year or two,” Pajolek said.
As explained by Seath, a decrease in the number of transactions results in a buildup of inventory, creating a buyer’s market which requires time to even out.
Nonetheless, purchases in 2010 seem to be much stronger than in 2009. Already the number of homes sold in the first quarter was higher than in 2009.
Relative to nearby towns, Westport seems to be fairing pretty well.
“Westport is much stronger than surrounding areas including Darien and New Canaan which are just starting to improve, as well as Greenwich which is still down,” Pajolek said.
Given the financial layoffs in the New York area and the state of the economy still in question, the real estate market, both in Westport and nationally, has a long way to go in terms of recovery.
Nationally, home prices are only back to their summer 2003 levels, according to the Case-Shiller Index.
“It’s still a buyer’s market and will be for a while until some of the inventory gets sold,” Seath said.
Westport hopes to see some improvement in activity and sales prices, but Seath assures that a recovery will not happen overnight.
