Here are the 10 towns and cities in Hartford County where sales above the asking price for homes are showing signs of easing – Hartford Courant

Home sale prices in Hartford County — sent soaring in the pandemic in heated bidding wars for a dwindling number of properties — are now showing early signs of a cooling off as rising mortgage rates make borrowing more expensive.

Experts say major price declines aren’t likely in the Hartford area — at least at this point — unlike other parts of country that are already starting to see significant price drops.

Multiple bids are still common, but reductions in asking prices increasingly have cropped up in recent weeks in the Hartford area and elsewhere in Connecticut, said Jeffrey P. Cohen, a professor of finance and real estate at the University of Connecticut in Storrs.

There are early signs that the steep climb in single-family house prices may be leveling off. (Courant file photo)

“But it’s not tremendous,” Cohen said. “So there is some cooling but, at least so far, it’s not offsetting the substantial gains that we have seen over the past six months or so.”

Joanne Breen, associate broker at ERA Hart Sargis-Breen in Newington, said the reductions in listing prices she has seen recently are a sign that prices are leveling off. The reductions she’s seen have been anywhere between 5% and 10%.

“Reductions seem to be significant and one time deals rather than smaller and more frequent reductions,” Breen said. “I’ve noticed that most houses that have a price reduction tend to sell very quickly once they are reduced.”

An analysis by The Courant of single-family house sales statistics covering the first nine months of 2022 show sales in all 29 towns and cities in Hartford County, on average, above the original listing price compared with the same period a year ago.

Single-family house sales have been declining for months in Hartford County, but heated bidding wars pushed up prices.

But those same statistics, provided by SmartMLS, the statewide multiple listing service, also point to early signs of slowing.

While still registering over original list price, more than 60% of the towns and cities saw smaller gains over list price than Hartford County as a whole through September, compared with the same period a year ago. And six municipalities were either flat or registered slight declines.

Overall, Hartford County registered single-family home sale prices, on average, that were 104.6% of the original asking price, an increase of 1.5%.

Single-family house sales in Hartford County have been declining for months, as the inventory of homes has dwindled. But the shortage propelled prices higher, helped, until recently, by low mortgage rates.

The full impact of price reductions aren’t likely show up in statistics for at least a few months, said Marla Byrnes, a real estate agent at Berkshire Hathaway Home Services New England Properties in West Hartford.

“My suspicion is that we are seeing things sell for less over asking than we did before, that people aren’t being quite as aggressive in their over asking bids,” Brynes said.

As mortgage rates rise, buyers may not be as aggressive with their over asking price bids.

Mortgage rates have more than doubled in the past year. Last week, the national average crept closer to 7% for a 30-year, fixed-rate home loan. That compared with a little over 3% a year ago, according to mortgage giant Freddie Mac.

Rising mortgage rates have come as the Federal Reserve has moved to rein in inflation — the general rise in the price of goods and services — that has reached a 40-year high. The housing market is among the sectors the Fed hopes will cool amid the rate increases.

Cohen, the Kinnard Real Estate Scholar at the UConn School of Business, said higher mortgage rates have put pressure on buyers that are getting priced out of the market.

“So, in order to offset that, if people want to sell their homes in a timely manner, people are being forced to reduce the asking price a little,” Cohen said.

Few, if any, however, see a return of plunging residential prices the likes of which Hartford — and Connecticut — experienced in the housing recession in the late 2000s. Hartford and elsewhere in the state didn’t regain much price traction until the pandemic, years after much of the rest of country, even neighboring states like Massachusetts.

The shift in the home sale market has thrown another variable into Phil and Ann Marie Moraitis’ search for a home near West Hartford Center, where the couple is attracted to the walkable environment.

The couple, empty nesters from a Springfield suburb, decided they wanted to downsize about two years ago but they decided to wait. They also had specific requirements about a house not needing a lot of work.

“Now, we are kicking ourselves because then, as you know, the prices just soared,” Ann Marie Moraitis said.

The Moraitises say they are all right with paying a bit more for the right house and have the advantage of paying cash when they sell their current home.

With the scarcity of options ideally within a mile of West Hartford Center, the couple isn’t sure prices will decline, but perhaps increases will ease.

“We are keeping ourselves in check because it is impossible to believe that everyone can keep spending more and more money,” Ann Marie Moraitis said. “At some point, these interest rates are going to change that.”

Here are the top 10 towns in Hartford County that saw the least increases — or declines — in home sale prices paid over original list prices. The statistics compare the first nine months of this year with the same period in 2021.

The Berlin Fair's history dates back to the 1880s and has been an annual event since 1948, with one interruption in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. (Courant file photo)

Single-family home sales: 138, down 19%

Median sale price: $355,000, up 10.2%

Percentage of listing price received: 101%, down 0.6%

Population: 20,484

Median household income: $101,127

Area (square miles): 26

Notable Attraction: Ragged Mountain Memorial Preserve

Falls Brook tumbles through the Tunxis State Forest in Hartland, eventually feeding into Barkhamsted Reservoir. (Courant file photo)

Single-family home sales: 10

Median sale price: $391,000, up 16.7%

Percentage of listing price received: 101.6%, down 0.5%

Population: 1,982

Median household income: $99,722

Area (square miles): 33

Notable attraction: The Falls Brook Trail runs 1.5 miles through the Tunxis State Forest in Hartland.

Old Newgate Prison, a Revolutionary War jail and the first state prison in the United States, was built on the site of a copper mine in East Granby. The site is now operated by the state of Connecticut as the Old Newgate Prison & Copper Mine Archaeological Preserve. (Courant file photo)

Single-family home sales: 65, up 22.5%

Median sale price: $350,000, up 6.1%

Percentage of listing price received: 103%, down 0.4%

Population: 5,304

Median household income: $104,336

Area (square miles): 18

Notable attraction: Old Newgate Prison and Copper Mine

The history of Pratt & Whitney's jet engine business — now a part of Waltham, Mass.-based Raytheon Co. — is showcased in the hangar museum in East Hartford.  (Jessica Hill / AP)

Single-family home sales: 378, down 11.5%

Median sale price: $237,500, up 10.5%

Percentage of listing price received: 104.1%, down 0.4%

Population: 50,772

Median household income: $55,967

Area (square miles): 18

Notable attraction: The Pratt & Whitney Hangar Museum displays a collection of engines from company’s founding in 1925 through today.

A peace vigil commemorating Martin Luther King Jr. Day in 2018 at Hartford's Charter Oak Cultural Center. (Courant file photo)

Single-family home sales: 208, unchanged

Median sale price: $220,000, up 10.9%

Percentage of listing price received: 102%, down 0.1%

Population: 123,088

Median household income: $36,278

Area (square miles): 17

Notable attraction: Charter Oak Cultural Center

Visitors to Riverside Reptiles Education Center in Enfield see the Timber Rattlesnake, the only species of rattlesnake found in New England.

Single-family home sales: 361, down 11.7%

Median sale price: $260,000, up 8.3%

Percentage of listing price received: 105.3%, unchanged

Population: 44,143

Median household income: $79,730

Area (square miles): 33

Notable attraction: Scantic River State Park

In a file photo from 2019, ‘Jack’s Hack,’ a fully restored B-29 Bomber fills the World War II hanger at the New England Air Museum in Windsor Locks. (Courant file photo)

Single-family home sales: 105, down 1%

Median sale price: $250,000, up 8.7%

Percentage of listing price received: 104.7%, up 0.2%

Population: 12,671

Median household income: $70,067

Area (square miles): 9

Notable attraction: : The New England Air Museum

Winterfest and the Tunnel of Lights in 2019 at the Connecticut Trolley
Museum in East Windsor.

Single-family home sales: 73, down 17%

Median sale price: $300,000, down 2.4%

Percentage of listing price received: 105%, up 0.6%

Population: 11,445

Median household income: $76,824

Area (square miles): 26

Notable attraction: The Connecticut Trolley Museum

A mural of Martin Luther King Jr. by Ben Keller on the side of the Mahoney Recreation Center in Manchester. Keller was invited to do the project by Matt Conway of RiseUP. (Courant file photo)

Single-family home sales: 409, down 15.8%

Median sale price: $265,000, up 12.8%

Percentage of listing price received: 104.9%, up 0.6%

Population: 57,805

Median household income: $74,503

Area (square miles): 27

Notable attraction: The Little Theatre of Manchester

The Marlborough Volunteer Fire Department was demonstrating for visitors at Blish Park, during Marlborough Day 2022. (Courant file photo)

Single-family home sales: 78, down 9.3%

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Median sale price: $349,500, down 0.1%

Percentage of listing price received: 101.7%, down 0.6%

Population: 6,368

Median household income: $112,557

Area (square miles): 23

Notable attraction: Lake Terramuggus

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Town Name

All data for 2022
is through September.

‘Home Sales:

% Change:

‘Median Sales Price:

% Change:

‘Price Change From List:

% Change:

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Andover Ansonia Ashford Avon Barkhamsted Beacon Falls Berlin Bethany Bethel Bethlehem Bloomfield Bolton Bozrah Branford Bridgeport Bridgewater Bristol Brookfield Brooklyn Burlington Canaan Canterbury Canton Chaplin Cheshire Chester Clinton Colchester Colebrook Columbia Cornwall Coventry Cromwell Danbury Darien Deep River Derby Durham East Granby East Haddam East Hampton East Hartford East Haven East Lyme East Windsor Eastford Easton Ellington Enfield Essex Fairfield Farmington Franklin Glastonbury Goshen Granby Greenwich Griswold Groton Guilford Haddam Hamden Hampton Hartford Hartland Harwinton Hebron Kent Killingly Killingworth Lebanon Ledyard Lisbon Litchfield Lyme Madison Manchester Mansfield Marlborough Meriden Middlebury Middlefield Middletown Milford Monroe Montville Morris Naugatuck New Britain New Canaan New Fairfield New Hartford New Haven New London New Milford Newington Newtown Norfolk North Branford North Canaan North Haven North Stonington Norwalk Norwich Old Lyme Old Saybrook Orange Oxford Plainfield Plainville Plymouth Pomfret Portland Preston Prospect Putnam Redding Ridgefield Rocky Hill Roxbury Salem Salisbury Scotland Seymour Sharon Shelton Sherman Simsbury Somers South Windsor Southbury Southington Sprague Stafford Stamford Sterling Stonington Stratford Suffield Thomaston Thompson Tolland Torrington Trumbull Union Vernon Voluntown Wallingford Warren Washington Waterbury Waterford Watertown West Hartford West Haven Westbrook Weston Westport Wethersfield Willington Wilton Winchester Windham Windsor Windsor Locks Wolcott Woodbridge Woodbury Woodstock





Avon 2022 % Change
Home Sales 202 -7.8%
Median Sales Price $575,000 9.5%
Price Change From List 105.8 4.2%





Berlin 2022 % Change
Home Sales 136 -19%
Median Sales Price $355,000 10.2%
Price Change From List 101.5 -0.6%





Bloomfield 2022 % Change
Home Sales 158 -8.7%
Median Sales Price $282,500 13%
Price Change From List 105.4 1%





Bristol 2022 % Change
Home Sales 533 6.2%
Median Sales Price $269,900 8%
Price Change From List 103.6 1%





Burlington 2022 % Change
Home Sales 108 -11.5%
Median Sales Price $439,950 8.5%
Price Change From List 102.6 1.1%





Canton 2022 % Change
Home Sales 101 -6.5%
Median Sales Price $380,000 6.7%
Price Change From List 103.8 2.1%





East Granby 2022 % Change
Home Sales 65 22.5%
Median Sales Price $350,000 6.1%
Price Change From List 103.4 -0.4%





East Hartford 2022 % Change
Home Sales 378 -11.5%
Median Sales Price $237,500 10.5%
Price Change From List 104.1 -0.4%





East Windsor 2022 % Change
Home Sales 73 -17%
Median Sales Price $300,000 -2.4%
Price Change From List 105 0.6%





Enfield 2022 % Change
Home Sales 361 -11.7%
Median Sales Price $260,000 8.3%
Price Change From List 105.3 0%





Farmington 2022 % Change
Home Sales 191 -29%
Median Sales Price $450,000 2.3%
Price Change From List 104.5 3%





Glastonbury 2022 % Change
Home Sales 279 -27%
Median Sales Price $474,900 13.6%
Price Change From List 104.5 2%





Granby 2022 % Change
Home Sales 98 -30%
Median Sales Price $393,125 4.5%
Price Change From List 104.3 2%





Hartford 2022 % Change
Home Sales 208 0%
Median Sales Price $220,000 10.9%
Price Change From List 102 -0.1%





Hartland 2022 % Change
Home Sales 10 -23.1%
Median Sales Price $391,000 16.7%
Price Change From List 101.6 -0.5%





Manchester 2022 % Change
Home Sales 409 -15.8%
Median Sales Price $265,000 12.8%
Price Change From List 104.9 0.6%





Marlborough 2022 % Change
Home Sales 78 -9.3%
Median Sales Price $349,500 -0.1%
Price Change From List 101.7 0.6%





New Britain 2022 % Change
Home Sales 300 -18.9%
Median Sales Price $228,250 14.7%
Price Change From List 104.5 0.9%





Newington 2022 % Change
Home Sales 248 -13.6%
Median Sales Price $300,000 13.2%
Price Change From List 105 1.9%





Plainville 2022 % Change
Home Sales 133 -18.4%
Median Sales Price $267,000 11.3%
Price Change From List 104 1.5%





Rocky Hill 2022 % Change
Home Sales 91 -24.8%
Median Sales Price $370,000 5.7%
Price Change From List 103.8 2.2%





Simsbury 2022 % Change
Home Sales 241 -23.5%
Median Sales Price $200,000 15.9%
Price Change From List 108.5 4.8%





South Windsor 2022 % Change
Home Sales 219 -14.5%
Median Sales Price $377,000 11.7%
Price Change From List 105.4 1.4%





Southington 2022 % Change
Home Sales 351 -27.2%
Median Sales Price $377,700 13.6%
Price Change From List 103.1 1.7%





Suffield 2022 % Change
Home Sales 139 -3.5%
Median Sales Price $460,000 22.7%
Price Change From List 102 0.7%





West Hartford 2022 % Change
Home Sales 605 -7.6%
Median Sales Price $405,000 9.5%
Price Change From List 107.4 3.7%





Wethersfield 2022 % Change
Home Sales 256 -15.8%
Median Sales Price $318,500 6.2%
Price Change From List 103.5 1.1%





Windsor 2022 % Change
Home Sales 236 -8.9%
Median Sales Price $311,750 15.5%
Price Change From List 105.6 1.1%





Windsor Locks 2022 % Change
Home Sales 105 1%
Median Sales Price $250,000 8.7%
Price Change From List 104.7 0.2%

SOURCE: SmartMLS

Kenneth R. Gosselin can be reached at [email protected].