The 25 single family homes that closed in November in Townwide Greenwich, CT had an average sales price of nearly $1.9 million and a median sales price of $1.5 million. New listings were flat in November with 39 new listings this year as compared to 38 last year. Five of the nine sales in November exceeding $2 million were located in Greenwich, two were in Old Greenwich and one was in Riverside. Of note, several of the larger sales were at a meaningful discount to original listing price reflecting a combination of unrealistic original asking prices and great opportunities to buy a significant asset at a discount. (Contact me for access to monthly Closings Reports).
Pending Precautions
While the number of single family sales in Greenwich in November was down 19% as compared to last year, the number of single family homes under hard contract was up 33% (see map for the 51 pending). In October the reverse was true, with single family pending contracts down 21% year over year. Some might argue that the post election anxiety relief along with the surge in the stock market were immediately translated to contracts, but (i) a great many contingent contracts are put in place well in advance of going hard and (ii) there is a long history of volatility in reviewing monthly pending contracts year over year. One should take a longer term view.
To be sure there are certain hard events, like year end and black line dates for the implementation of certain regulations that may drive closings to a particular time, but that said, generally offers, counter offers, weather, inspections,contracts and mortgage approvals have a greater influence on timing that month end. Additionally,volatility in a prior year can make the current year look favorable or not in any given month simply based on comparisons. For example, last year in the under $1 million range, pending contracts went from 40 in October, down to 24 in November and back up again to 31 in December. This year has proven more steady with 20 in October and 22 in November and yet the comparison against last year adds the appearance of more drama than there actually is this year.
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