Greenwich Residential Real Estate Blog and Analysis: January 30th

There are times when I walk into a home and everything feels perfect. This is the feeling I had when I toured 2 Oneida Drive #E in downtown Greenwich.

As you know location is the most important aspect to me in buying real estate. In my opinion that is what makes this so unique. To have a new construction home, on the water, with exceptional views, but be able to walk to all that Greenwich Avenue offers is very rare.

The Harbor consists of 11 luxury homes and condominiums across the street from the Delamar Hotel. One of the many perks is that homeowners of the Harbor receive complimentary concierge services, charging privileges, and special rates from the Delamar Hotel during the first year. Services range from use of the facilities, including the fitness center and room service, to maid services and dockage. The house itself has 6,695 s.f. consisting of three fireplaces, an elevator, 10’ ceilings, and custom cabinetry. Outside of the home, I was attracted to the views, the outdoor space and especially the decor. The interior was professionally designed by Lauren Muse of Muse Interiors. The outdoor space consists of a roof top terrace with an outdoor kitchen and a spa with the breathtaking views. The price is $5.295M, and the association is already 36% sold.

As you can see below 2015 is off to a non-descript beginning. There are 517 properties for sale in Greenwich currently, 418 of which are single family homes. We had 41 properties sell on the MLS. However, the real impressive aspect is that we have 89 properties under contract. This is an abnormally high number and should point to a strong 1st quarter.

We typically see the market start to pick up after the Super Bowl. However, in February we have public and private school recesses so should be in full swing in beginning of March.

When looking at 2014 as a whole it was a very surprising year. We finished 2013 with a flurry of activity and started 2014 with that activity. The year as a whole however ended up 6.2% down in total transactions. However, the average sales price was up 19.8%. The median sale price was up 11.1%. Even the average price per square foot was up 9.9%.

When looking at all of this data we get a clearer picture. Ultimately the high end market was extraordinary. The over $10M market which has been hit so hard lately was up 87% over last year. Obviously, this causes the median and average prices to jump. We had an incredible year, especially in the high end. When we hear that the average price per home is up, the median price is up, the amount per s.f. is up, it would be easy to say we had the year of all years. Conversely, if we said that the amount of transactions is down 6.2% we could say it was a slow year. As most times, the truth lies in the middle. In 2013 we saw the activity jump from 2012, but most of that was in the under $2M range and especially under $1m. This year, the inventory of these markets were lacking all year. In turn, that really affected the activity, and is where we saw most of the activity in 2013. The under $1M properties sold dropped 12% from 2013. The $1M-$2M dropped and even more astounding 21%. These price points have been the pulse of the market and is the reason that the activity dropped 6%.

In my opinion overall, the market in 2014 was good, and could have been great if we had more inventory, especially in the under $2M market. Everything points to a robust market in 2015. As mentioned, the activity for the year was down about 6%. However, when you look at November and December of this year we are up 7.5% on activity vs. 2013.

I have also included a link to the 4th Quarter Market Report my firm puts out for your review.

4th Quarter Report

I have invested in my own MLS Search for my readers. This will give access to a lot of the listing information I have. Also, if I have already set you up with your personal portal, you will now be able to search your own searches outside of what I set up for you. Feel free to test out and search properties. I feel the best attribute is that you can save your own search and choose to get alerts as new properties come on to the market, properties are sold, or change in price. All specific to your customized search. Hence, you will speed up your learning curve, becoming an expert in the specific market you care about.

Please let me know if you would like me to provide customized information or statistics for you based on your criteria.

**The information on the featured property and all statistical information is from the Greenwich MLS.

**All opinions garnered from the statistics are my own