Below is November’s Local Housing Data for Westport, CT. Click the image to open the interactive report.
With the report open, use the menu in the upper left to search different towns and pull up more reports…like the Market Forecast tool! This is a screenshot of the expanded menu view:
Reach out to me anytime with questions about the market and your plans.
You may not be aware of this, but real estate agents make referrals for their clients all the time, and you should too! You will help your friends and your REALTOR® when you do!
Did you know?
Sixty-five percentof home sellers choose an agent they know or one who is referred by someone they know and trust (National Association of Realtors). This means that any friend of yours who is thinking about moving may be looking for a recommendation from you!
When I’m guiding you through your move, I don’t stop at the town line. I get you where you want to go.
Maybe you want to sell your Fairfield condo, move back west, and get a vacation condo in Saint Martin.
Perhaps you want to move from downtown Westport to a waterfront home an hour up the coast.
Or maybe you want to move out of Connecticut to New York or Florida.
When I help you make your big move, I work with you to get the top dollar and optimal terms for the sale of your Fairfield-Westport area home, and if your desired destination is beyond my direct service area, I refer you to an expert in the place you want to buy in. I oversee the process and ensure you are happy with your other agent. I coordinate timing and work together with the other parties to make the process as seamless and stress-free for you as possible.
Let me get you to your happy place.
I have helped many of my clients sell their homes and move locally or out of the area. With William Raveis, we have 140 offices with 4,400 agents in eight states (Connecticut, New York, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Vermont, Maine, New Hampshire, and Florida). We are also proud to partner with the invitation-only Leading Real Estate Companies of the World global network spanning 55 countries with 4,000 offices and 128,000 overseas sales associates. Your luxury listing is represented with over 200 selected luxury affiliates through our membership with Luxury Portfolio International, the global gold standard in luxury real estate. Tap into my extensive network of elite local, regional, and global brokerages to help you move around the corner or around the world.
Referrals? Yes, Please!
Most of my business comes from referrals from clients and repeat clients. If you want to help a friend make a successful and low stress move, refer them to me. As always, I promise to take excellent care of them. They will be grateful to you, and so will I.
Referrals are a win-win, so share the love! ❤️ ….Did I mention that referrals are a win-win?
Our fabulous communities are what draw people to our towns from near and far and what keeps people here sticking around and moving locally. That’s why I like to help support our local communities.
This week I met with Fairfield’s new Conservation Director, Tim Bishop to talk about how I can help homeowners in town learn how to protect our precious wetlands. Tim is an excellent resource for our town and truly wants to collaborate with homeowners to help them get their home improvements done while protecting our fragile natural resource, the inland wetland areas.
Most people are not aware of the importance of protecting wetlands and that doing so is critical to controlling flooding and stormwater run-off, maintaining our water quality, and preserving natural ecosystems that need still (vs. flowing) water to breed and live. Healthy wetland areas hold onto water which enables a natural cleaning process to occur and provides the environment necessary for wildlife, while controlling flooding. Many people don’t know they have wetland areas on their property. They don’t realize that their actions may be permanently destroying this critical natural resource, and they don’t realize that what they do in their yard impacts other people. So I will be working with Tim and others from the Greater Fairfield Board of Realtors on a plan to get the word out!
After meeting with Tim Bishop, I went to Bridgeport and helped to assemble 600 meal bags in preparation for Thanksgiving. This was part of a larger program to support 7,000 families.
The next day, it was time to vote!
And last, but not least, I launched a new Weekly Housing Update to enable you to track the market on a weekly basis and see what’s going on in Fairfield and Westport. You can find the Weekly Update here on the blog.
If you are thinking of making a move within one of our fabulous communities, within the next 12 months, now is the time to reach out to me so we can proactively put your plan in motion.
The final result was better than she had ever imagined, but it took some serious soul searching, intense preparation, and full collaboration with her agent.
For years after she retired from her career as a flight attendant, Linda wanted to be with her friends who purchased homes in Florida and frequently traveled together from there. However, the responsibility of being the sole caretaker of her now 97-year old mom, Dolly required her to stay-put. Her family lived in upstate New York where her mother also owned a home. So the interim plan was to move back with Dolly to her New York house where her family could help with her care.
Preparation started by meeting with her agent to create a plan, and then it was time to start packing up her house.
Once she decided to sell, the job of emptying the home she had lived in since 1995 began. There are services to help a homeowner clear out their house quickly and easily, but Linda (Linda L, not me!) wanted to dig into this process herself.
William Raveis offers Raveis Refresh, a service that removes the homeowner’s burden of preparing the home for sale, and there’s no out of pocket expense to the seller until the closing.
But Linda felt the need to go through everything in the house and give away as much as she could. She accomplished this the old fashioned way, through networking and many trips to Goodwill! I believe that this process was also important for Linda because it was part of the emotional transition. It was not easy to leave the neighborhood she loved for so many years.
Part of our plan was to meet with a stager and determine the strategy for how to present the house to get the most money out of it.
We were all in agreement that the darkish yellow walls did not support the beachy vibe we wanted to go for in the beach area. Even the white ceilings needed refreshing after so many years since being painted. Several light fixtures from another era needed to be replaced and the exterior needed some touching up as part of the freshness strategy. And because Linda planned to get rid of almost everything in the house, the rooms needed furnishing. It was hard, even for us, to visualize the transformation that was soon to take place.
As Linda emptied the house, she gained momentum.
Linda called contractors to have deferred maintenance items attended to and had anything that was broken fixed. Gradually, she got rid of everything and made some key improvements like replacing the wood deck with new maintenance-free composite, installing some new appliances in the kitchen, and swapping out several light fixtures.
Fresh paint in the right shade yields the highest ROI. Staging creates the magic.
Then the painting began, and as the rooms became white, the natural light was reflected and uncovered a beautiful etherial feel that was dormant before. Even the basement got a paint refresh! With the home now a glow, it was time for the stagers to add the final magic. In one afternoon, they had the living room, dining room, study, and two bedrooms beautifully furnished, and the whole house accessorized. Linda’s house went from cluttered, dim, and tired, to light, bright, and magazine worthy! When she returned after leaving the house to the stagers, she could not believe it was the same house! She had the same reaction as the buyers who came to see it! Excitement!
The plan, effort, and collaboration paid off!
The house went on the market on a Thursday morning in time for the broker tour. Many agents came through with positive feedback. A number of agent showings took place from Thursday through the weekend. The showings in combination with a Saturday and Sunday open house brought 56 people through in four days! Multiple offers were received above the asking price, and by Monday, the new homeowner was on board!
If you would like to discuss your dream of the home that matches your needs and lifestyle, reach out to me below. If you’re curious what your home is worth in this market and would like an instant estimate, click here. Not ready yet? Keep an eye on the market with the monthly WHAT SOLD reports and Weekly Updates on the blog!
September 2022 housing numbers are in! How does September compare to the prior month, is there a slow down, and WHAT SOLD?? Curious what your home is worth?
Find out what happened in our local markets by downloading your free WHAT SOLD report with everything that sold in Fairfield and Westport in the previous month here. If you would like the report for another town, send me a request in the form below, and I will get it to you.
So, what are the numbers, Linda?
In Fairfield, September unit sales were down by 25 from August. The ratio of sale price compared to the list price was down two percent since August. The median sale price was also down, but the median days on market was the same.
In Westport, unit sales were down by 14 from the prior month. Sale price-to-list-price ratios averaged two percent lower than in August. The market time was up by 4 days compared to August.
Comparing September vs August,
Both towns saw fewer sales and sale prices closer to the asking price in September compared to August. The median sale price was lower in Fairfield and higher in Westport in September vs August.Market time was unchanged in Fairfield and longer in Westport.
Comparing September 2022 vs 2021,
Comparing September year over year, unit sales were down in both towns this year. The median sale price is still up from 2021. Market time was down in Fairfield and a few days longer in Westport.
Quick scoop on market status
FAIRFIELD – September 2022 vs August
Single-Family Homes
Units Sold: DOWN, 55 (vs 80)
Median Sale Price: DOWN, $853,000 (vs $908,000)
Average Sale vs. Asking Price: DOWN, 101% (vs 103%)
Median Days on Market: SAME 32 (vs 32)
Fairfield 2022 vs 2021
Units Sold: DOWN 27% (55 vs 75)
Median Sale Price: UP 4% ($853,275 vs. $820,000)
Days on Market: DOWN 25% (30 vs. 40)
WESTPORT – September 2022 vs. August
Single Family
Units Sold: DOWN, 34 (vs 48)
Median Sale Price: UP, $2,002,500 (vs $1,949,500)
Average Sale vs. Asking Price: DOWN, 101% (vs. 102%)
Median Days on Market: UP, 39 (vs 35)
Westport 2021 vs 2022
Units Sold: DOWN 17% (35 vs 42)
Median Sale Price: UP 41% ($2,080,000 vs $1,475,000)
You may also be wondering if prices will be coming down and if you should make a move now. For monthly charts showing more market parameters in your towns of interest, take a look at the Raveis Local Housing Data, and contact me to discuss the market and your plans.
If you’re thinking of making a move in the next 12 months or have any questions, call directly or send a note to Linda Raymond below.
We all showed up in the neighborhood at different times. We each arrived during the appropriate chapter for our individual story lines. As usual, we each had our own priorities, pursuits, and interests.
Our dear neighbor, Linda, (pictured above center with the orange lei), has lived on our street since 1995. She has seen many neighbors come and go.
If there ever was a perfect neighborhood role model, Linda would be it!
She knew everyone, and we all knew her. Not only did she know everyone, she pretty much knew the back story of each neighbor’s entire family tree including their pets!
Whenever she saw you, she would ask how you were doing, how your children were doing, your mother, brother, your pets. She genuinely cared and wanted to know. In the winter time, she would march right to your door with a shovel and begin a conversation while clearing your front porch of snow. If anyone needed the name of a contractor or a cup of sugar, Linda was our go-to.
And as a bonus to her model behavior, Linda was not shy about going the distance during our summer block parties with spirited festivities that lasted well into the night. 🙂
But when Linda decided to move away to be closer to her family and friends, it became very clear how meaningful she had been to the fabric of our neighborhood.
I went door to door to invite each neighbor to a surprise party for Linda. Everyone had the same reaction. They expressed loss at the thought of her leaving, well wishes for her next chapter, and a sincere desire to send her off with good spirit and a proper celebration. So we had a lovely gathering for Linda, which helped to bring us all a little closer together too.
It truly made me feel the impact of having a great neighborhood.
When you feel connected to those around you, it gives a sense of comfort, support, positive energy, and a feeling of belonging. In fact, this is why National Neighborhood Day was created! The mission is to inspire the fostering of neighborhood relationships that in turn build stronger and more caring and effective communities. The dedicated website says, “Communities work better ( students perform better, crime rates are lower, kids are safer, people live longer) when neighbors know one another better. Knowing your neighbor on a first-name basis, as National Neighborhood Day suggests, is a surprisingly effective first step toward a better America.”
Loving your neighbors sure makes a lot of sense, right?!
I hope this post inspires you to be a good neighbor and love your neighbors, even if they don’t live right on your street. This will make you feel more at home and do your part to help build a culture of kindness and acceptance that will enhance our communities in the future for generations to come! In fact, you can start here and now by taking the Good Neighbor Pledge!
If you are ready to join a new neighborhood, send a note below so that we can discuss your plans!
Charmer on Charles! Grab this beach area gem and jump into the perfect home and lifestyle!
Coveted property and neighborhood
Set on a vibrant street with million+ dollar properties and its own Facebook Group, this gracious home can soon be yours. Featuring enviable curb appeal, an elegant fireplace, hardwood floors, and French doors leading to the new maintenance-free covered deck, what’s not to love?
Space to suit
There is ample space for all your needs with a front-to-back living room and dining area complete with French doors overlooking the rear gardens, an eat-in kitchen, a light-filled study or den, and a large full bath with laundry on the first floor. Three bedrooms and another full bath reside upstairs. There’s plenty of storage space for all your stuff with an attic and full basement. The freshly painted basement is ready to serve, complete with a double sink for projects and gardening.
Creature comforts
Decompress in your private, fenced, and beautifully landscaped property. Relax in the shade on your covered deck. Park and store your things in the garage. Enjoy energy-efficient natural gas, forced air heat, city water, and city sewer.
Best location ever!
Stroll downtown to the train, chic eateries and shops, or to Penfield Beach and neighborhood parks! Secure the relaxed yet bustling lifestyle you crave here at home and hop on the train to Manhattan in just over an hour whenever you wish.
I wanted to let you know about an amazing opportunity coming to the market next week!
This home enjoys a prized location on a peaceful yet vibrant Fairfield Connecticut side street that’s walking distance to the town, train, and beach. Featuring three bedrooms, two full baths, main floor laundry, natural gas, forced air heat, garage, covered back deck, stunning landscaping, and numerous new improvements, this is a home and lifestyle offering that are not to be missed!
Call or text for more information => 203-912-4440!