Connecticut real estate market continues to improve

By Scott Benjamin

Carol Christiansen says Connecticut’s long-stagnant real estate market is healthier now than at any time since the 2008 Great Recession.

The president of CT Realtors added that as a result of the utilization of work-from-home during the pandemic the Nutmeg State has started to overcome its “bad reputation for high taxes” and those living elsewhere have rediscovered “what a beautiful state we have.”

She said that across Connecticut a home sometimes goes on the market on Saturday and may have multiple offers by Sunday.

In contrast, just two years ago, Dan Keune, based in Ellington, who was then the president of CT Realtors – told Patch.com that since 2010 home prices had gone up nationally 43 percent but just eight-tenths of one percent in Connecticut.

Two years ago CNBC did a report on how the limit of $10,000 for state and local tax deductions under former Republican President Donald Trump’s tax reform had hurt the real estate market in Greenwich, which is Connecticut’s ninth largest town and the home of such billionaires as New York Mets owner Steve Cohen.

Christiansen said in a phone interview with Patch.com that recent figures show a “72 percent” increase in activity in Greenwich from pre-pandemic.

Christiansen, whose office is in the Gales Ferry section of Ledyard, said the market also is strong in the southeastern section of Connecticut – largely because of the employment at the Electric Boat shipyard in Groton, where in recent years they have gone from building just one to constructing two submarines per year.

However, in general, low inventory continues to be a stumbling block. Christiansen said it is currently at two months when the ideal status would be six to seven months.

She said that the state still doesn’t have enough starter homes, which can be a disincentive for young families. She noted that those in the $250,000 range “sell immediately.”

The pandemic also has left some commercial properties vacant. State Rep. Caroline Simmons (D-144) of Stamford, who is running for the Democratic nomination for mayor of The City That Works - told Patch.com in June that about 30 percent of the commercial space there is vacant. She said Connecticut’s second most populated city should become “creative” on how to use that space.

Christiansen said that the National Association of Realtors has recommended that municipalities consider turning retail properties, where possible, into housing.

While campaigning three years ago, Gov. Ned Lamont (D-Greenwich) told Patch.com that Connecticut has “an affordable housing crisis in a high-cost state” and he “would focus” on placing more units in the cities near where public transportation would be available.

Christiansen said she agrees that there is not enough affordable housing. She remarked that affordable units “don’t have to be for the low income.”

On another topic, she commended the establishment of UniteCT, the state rental assistance program which, according a recent CT Mirror story, has provided $72.8 million to cover unpaid rent and utility bills, with another $38.9 million being processed.

CT Mirror has reported that in June Lamont acted to simultaneously allow the state moratorium on evictions to lapse and also place new pressure on landlords to apply for the more than $400 million in pandemic relief available to cover unpaid rent in Connecticut.

The Biden Administration recently hailed UniteCt, calling it a model for other states.

Christiansen said, “In some cases, the tenants aren’t going to be able to pay for all those months and the owners need to get somebody else in there.” UniteCT has helped to fill that void.