October was a difficult month for Connecticut's housing industry as two key indicators, sales of existing single-family homes and new housing permits issued, declined.
Condominium sales also fell in October, according to the latest report from The Warren Group, the Massachusetts-based publisher of The Commercial Record.
There were 2,868 single-family homes sold in Connecticut last month, which represents a 3.1% decrease from the same period last year. October also was the third consecutive month sales have declined on a year-over-year basis, according to Timothy Warren, chief executive officer of The Warren Group.
"The declining sales numbers for both single-family homes and condos isn't surprising based on recent trends," said Warren said in a statement. "This is the third consecutive month that single-family homes have declined year-over-year, and the second consecutive month for condos on the same basis."
Condominium sales in Connecticut were down 0.9% last month, to 843 units sold. The median sale price for condominiums in October fell 0.6%, or $6,500, to $155,000, down from $161,500 in the same period in 2017.
The median sale price for single-family homes sold in the state during October was $247,000, down 0.4%, or $1,000, compared to the same period last year. Over the first 10 months of this year, the median sale price of single-family homes was $260,000, a 4%, or $10,000, increase compared to the same period last year.
The total number of single-family homes sold in Connecticut over the first 10 months this year was 28,752, a 1.5% increase over the same period last year.
The number of single-family homes sold in New Haven County last month increased 3.5% to 681. The median sale price for single-family homes sold in the county in October was $225,000, a 2.1%, or $4,700, increase compared to the same period last year.
Condominium sales in New Haven County last month increased by 8.6%. The median sale price for condominiums sold in New Haven County in October was $140,500, an increase of 3.8%, or $5,100, compared to a year ago.
The number of new housing permits issued last month by municipalities that report their data monthly was 331 units, the lowest number of housing starts in October since 2011. The 331 units that were approved represents a 34.7% decline in the number of new housing units that were approved in Connecticut in October 2017.
Two western Connecticut communities, Newtown and Danbury, led the state in new housing permits issued with 34 and 33 units, respectively. Milford led New Haven County in new housing starts with 14 permits issued.
During the first 10 months of this year, there have been 3,185 new units approved. Donald Klepper-Smith, chief economist and director of research for New Haven-based DataCore Partners, said that makes it unlikely that Connecticut's housing market will top 4,000 units approved for the year.
"The housing market has been soft," Klepper-Smith said. "Interest rates have remained high and people are on edge a little bit because of the stock market."
And the funk the housing market is in is likely to get worse before it gets better, the economist said. The nation is in its ninth year of economic recovery and Klepper-Smith said he believes the chances of the United States falling into a recession in the next 12 to 15 months are greater than 50% now.
