Conn. single-family home prices drop

BOSTON – In the first quarter of 2009, the median price of a single-family home in Connecticut fell 17.6 percent, dropping to $220,000, according to data released this week by The Warren Group, a Boston-based real estate data tracker.
The median price had been $267,000 in the same 2008 period.
In New London and Windham counties, both of which border Rhode Island, the median price fell by 17.1 percent and 17.5 percent, respectively.
“Like Massachusetts, Connecticut’s housing market really struggled in the first three months of the year,” CEO Timothy M. Warren Jr. said in a statement. “The last quarter was the worst first quarter in terms of median home-price declines and unit sales.”
In the first quarter, Rhode Island’s median price fell 25.9 percent and Massachusetts’ median price fell 15.2 percent, The Warren Group reported.
Warren added that he sees the potential for a residential market rebound, because of low prices and federal tax credits available to first-time homebuyers, but “even those types of perks won’t bring a dramatic turnaround in sales if people are struggling with job loss and salary cuts.”
Statewide single-family home sales fell 27.7 percent in the first quarter, with 3,568 sales, down from 4,932 sales in 2008, The Warren Group reported.
Sales in New London County were down 30.2 percent, dropping from 408 homes to 285 homes. In Windham County, sales were down 24.9 percent, dropping from 201 homes to 151 homes.
The Warren Group Inc. is a provider of New England real estate data and the publisher of Banker & Tradesman and other journals. Additional information is available at www.thewarrengroup.com.