Connecticut single-family home sale prices in October reached their highest level in 12 years for the month, a new report showed Wednesday, a bit of welcome news in a housing market that is looking for a boost in a decade-plus recovery.
The median sale price of a single-family home — where half the sales are above, half below — was $255,000, up nearly 4% from $246,000 for the same month a year ago, according to the monthly home sale report from The Warren Group, which tracks real estate trends in New England and publishes The Commercial Record.
Sales of single-family homes rose 1% in October, compared with a year earlier.
Even with the milestone price increase in October, the median is still 10% lower than the most recent peak of $280,000 for the month, reached in 2007.
Through the first 10 months of the year, the median sale price was $262,000, up less than 1% from $260,000 for the same period a year ago, Warren reported.
The year-to-date statistics suggest Connecticut could log an annual increase — albeit a modest one — in prices for the year.
In Hartford County, the median sale price of a single-family house in October rose 1.4% to $223,063, from $220,000 a year earlier, on a 5.4% increase sales.
Across the state's eight counties, Windham County saw the biggest gain in median sale price of a single-family house, up 6% to $193,000, from $182,000 a year earlier.
All counties saw median price increases in October, with the exception of Middlesex County, which slid just under 1% to $256,000, from $257,800 a year ago.
In the smaller condominium market, the median sale price statewide jumped 7% in October, to $168,000, compared with $157,000 for the same month a year ago. The median marked a five-year high.
Sales of condos fell nearly 4%.
Shifts in the median sale price do not mean all home prices — or values, for that matter — are moving in the same direction. However, the median is a well-watched indicator of overall market trends.
The median also can be affected by the mix of homes on the market at a particular time.
