How Many Madison Houses Sold in Last Year and for How Much?

MADISON, CT - There's a general perception among many in town that Madison is an expensive town to live in.

Well, a recent report given by Town Planner David Anderson to zoning officials shoots a few holes in that perception.

Anderson stated that he was asked to look at Madison home sales statistics over the past 12 months. While many of the sales were more than half-a-million, there was a large number that sold for under $350,000.

The following was found: Over the past year, 300 properties sold; the average-listing price was $568,000 and the average closing price was $540,000; the average square footage was 2,700; and the average age of the seller was 53 years.

Of the 300 homes, there is a large number of homes, 111, that sold for under $350,000, which is the reasonable price point to attract new families to town, Anderson stated.

In looking at this data, he asked whether the town wants to incentivize people to create more housing units; planners absolutely do want to increase housing density in the downtown area.

Anderson stated the numbers are just a snapshot of what took place last year, in terms of housing sales. Planning and Zoning Secretary Thomas Burland stated that there is potential to increase the grand list as more people move into town, but it is also attractive to consider investing in current houses, many of which were built in the 1960s and have 1960s kitchens, for instance.

It is an interesting concept to encourage builders to put $50,000 into a $350,000 house to improve its attractiveness and value, and Secretary Burland suggested working with banks to see whether this process could be encouraged with mortgages tied to escrow accounts, Burland said.

This data presents a little bit of a better picture in terms of that fact that it shows Madison has more middle-income type housing stock than it may have realized it had, according to Anderson. Certainly more housing is not always the answer, and one solution could be to get more people to rehabilitate their properties, Anderson stated.

PZC Chairman Ron Clark stated that the idea to encourage rehabilitation to existing residences makes sense, but it should be more of a roundtable discussion involving the Economic Development Commission, the Board of Selectmen, and the Board of Finance.