Connecticut real estate market solidly rebounds from pandemic

By Scott Benjamin

After being “flat” since the 2008 Great Recession, the Connecticut real estate market has improved “beyond expectations” since the state began reopening this summer from the pandemic.

“Before, it might be a slight increase in West Hartford or in Glastonbury or some of the tiny towns, but now we’re seeing increased activity across the state,” says Joanne Breen, the president of CT Realtors, one of the largest trade associations in Connecticut.

She said that in some parts of the state sales prices are up by as much as 10 percent.

In contrast, last fall Dan Keune - based in Ellington, who was then the president of CT Realtors – told Patch.com that since the Great Recession ended in 2010, nationally home prices have increased 43 percent, but only eight-tenths of one percent in Connecticut

Breen said that, for example, homeowners from the Empire State are moving to Connecticut’s suburbs.

“There are an influx of people from New York City and Westchester,” she said in a phone interview. “It has been particularly busy for the real estate professionals in Fairfield County and Litchfield County.”

The Wall Street Journal reported on July 12 in a story with a "WESTON" dateline, "It took a global pandemic and a severe economic downturn to do what once seemed impossible: make the Connecticut suburbs cool again."

Breen said, “Also, people who had been working at home found that their current home didn’t fit their needs. Some of them found that they wanted a home with a larger yard for their children.”

She said that although “the younger millennials – the ones who have recently graduated from college - are attracted to the urban areas and not so much to suburban Connecticut, when they are older and have families a number of them want to live here.”

Money Talks News, an online niche journalism web site, recently reported that per capita Connecticut ranks fifth in the nation in wealthy millennials. It reported that 11 percent of the Nutmeg State’s millennials earn more than $200,000 annually.

Breen, who is based in Newington, said the market had been more active in January and February – before the pandemic – and, “People who had planned to buy a home in the winter or early spring, started taking action in May or June as the state reopened.”

“The inventory is still low, but it has gotten a little better,” she said regarding an obstacle that has plagued Connecticut realtors over the recent years.

“There are some homes for sale that get six or seven offers in two days,” she said.

Breen said that Gov. Ned Lamont (D-Greenwich) has done “a good job” in addressing the pandemic.

“We’re recovering from the pandemic better than in a lot of other states,” she remarked.

“We’re appreciative that he deemed real estate an essential business during the pandemic,” added Breen. “That was a huge thing.”

She said at the national level the real estate market has been buoyed by continued low interest rates from the Federal Reserve Board.

Breen said that Lawrence Yun , the economist for the National Association of Realtors, recently said that he expects that interest rates to stay low well into next year.

The Washington Post reported on September 16 “that the majority of Fed officials expected the benchmark interest rate would stay at or near zero through 2023.”

Regarding another topic, the U.S. House Democrats proposed in the $3 trillion HEROES Act stimulus package that was approved in that chamber on May 15 that the State And Local Tax (SALT) deduction be fully reinstated instead of being limited to $10,000, as it was under Republican President Donald Trump’s 2017 tax reform.

CNBC reported this spring that the Tax Policy Center has indicated that, for example, on average New Yorkers pay $23,804 in state and local taxes.

The HEROES Act was not considered in the U.S. Senate.

Breen said the National Association of Realtors “is supporting expanding the maximum $10,000 write off to apply to each spouse for those filing jointly.” She said that CT Realtors would support that step.

CNBC reported in 2019 that the $10,000 SALT cap was having an impact on the real estate market in Greenwich, one of the wealthiest municipalities in the state.

In 2018 CT Realtors sponsored debates during the gubernatorial primaries and the general election and in 21017 it held a rally at Horace Bushnell Park in Hartford that was keynoted by University of Connecticut women’s basketball coach Geno Auriemma.

Breen said the trade association plans to announce its endorsements soon for the state legislative races in the November 3 election and also will likely endorse candidates in Connecticut’s five congressional districts.