How's the Market? Wallingford and Meriden CT Sepember 2011
The Wallingford and Meriden housing markets both came into the back-to-school market off strong summer stats, but heading into the Fall selling season things are taking a downward turn.
Wallingford
Wallingford's sweet spot for sales is still in the $100K - $300K range, with 50% of the sales in September happening there, down from 58% in August. The bulk of the inventory is also still found in that price range however, with 56% of available homes found there in both August and September. Sales of properties priced above $400,000 are beginning to taper off now, while inventory has increased by 11% in that sector. Sales of Wallingford single family homes slowed significantly in September, averaging 110 days to sell, and the condo market slowed to a crawl, taking over 8 months to sell a unit. The good news for buyers is that average selling prices are still at their lowest levels of the year in both categories. With low utility and tax rates, Wallingford remains a very popular destination for home buyers. Interest rates remain at amazingly low rates, at or below 4% for conventional loans and 3.5% for first time home buyers, and this will hopefully help spur sales in the last 3 months of 2011. September sales started slow, with only 9 properties closed in Wallingford through the first half of the month, but the second half saw 23 properties close. With a strong end of the month and signs of increased buyer activity at the start of October, we're hopeful that Wallingford can close out the year in good shape.
Meriden
The Meriden market has also shown some improvement since the first of the year, but unlike Wallingford, Meriden's best selling properties are priced at $200,000 or less, and especially at or below $100,000. Fully 84% of all the sales in Meriden occurred in this price range in August, which puts in squarely in a balanced market. Homes above $200,000 only make up 28% of Meriden's inventory, and only 16% of the sales, so a sale in this price range will still require some patience. Meriden's condo market took a rather hard hit in September, with only 4 units sold, plus the average sales price is now at its lowest point of the year at just under $121,000. There are also quite a few condo complexes that have not yet renewed their FHA financing approval, and this is having a negative effect on the market as well. We projected 16 total sales for September in Meriden and we are happy to say we were off by a wide margin as 37 total sales occurred, but October's numbers were not looking as good so we're hoping there's a swell of sales in the latter part of the month to provide some momentum going into the holidays.
Summary
Wallingford and Meriden both ended September on a down note: Wallingford's inventory swelled from August's normal seller's market of 5.79 months to 9.34 months worth which shoved it kicking and screaming into a normal seller's market. Total inventory has remained stable over the past few months but prices, which had been falling since June, saw an increase in September which we hope can carry over into October. Meriden once again ended the month in a normal buyer's market, showing 11.83 months of inventory, but that was a significant jump from August's 9.81 and it's not far from the 12 month inventory level that signifies an extreme buyer's market. The lower price points in Meriden continue to dominate sales, and while inventory levels fell slightly in September, sale prices are at their lowest levels of the year and may continue to fall despite rock bottom interest rates.
For more information on the Wallingford and Meriden housing markets, call Harriman Real Estate today at (203) 672-4499, email us at info@harrimanre.com, or visit our web site at www.harrimanre.com!
Related articles
- How's the Market? Wallingford and Meriden CT (wallingfordwired.com)
- Meriden CT Market Update for September 2011 (wallingfordwired.com)
- Wallingford CT Market Update for September 2011 (wallingfordwired.com)
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