We can’t blame the weather. To be sure, in January it was bitter cold for days and days, and there was the onslaught of the January 2018 bomb cyclone blizzard, and so prospective purchasers weren’t as excited about or able to go touring around from house to house in order to decide which one to buy. So some people aren’t surprised that January closings were down. It’s because it was so darn cold. Right? Well, no. Closings reflect sales agreements from a month or two or even several months before closing. The lag from contract signing to closing reflects the time it takes to obtain a mortgage, conduct title search, pack, vacate the property or clear any other contract conditions. So why not look at contracts instead of closings? Because we don’t know the agreed upon price until it becomes publicly available at closing. Because deals fall through. Because a sale isn’t a sale until it’s closed.
Specifically, in January there were 35 residential closings as compared to 64 the prior year in Greenwich, Cos Cob, Riverside and Old Greenwich. See list of closings in my January 2018 Closing Report There were seven sales in excess of $3 million and two in excess of $10 million. The average sales price of single family homes for the trailing twelve months is $2.5 million. As of today there are 16 pending contracts in excess of $3 million. The median sales price for single family, condominium and cooperatives in the month of January was also down as compared to last year, but the average sales price was up slightly. Does it matter? Looking at the trailing twelve months, sales are flat and volume is up 9%.
Perhaps even more important is the upcoming season. Spring Season begins after the Super Bowl. That means, traffic will likely go up, inventory will likely go up and sales agreements will likely close in Spring.
