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CT has 5 of the worst real estate markets for home buyers in U.S. – Torrington Register Citizen

A Judd Avenue Victorian in Bethel, Conn., which after two weekends on the market went under contract to be sold in May 2024. Five metropolitan areas in Connecticut rank among the top 10 percent of hottest seller's markets in residential real estate, according to Zillow's latest index capturing listing and sales activity through April 2024.

A Judd Avenue Victorian in Bethel, Conn., which after two weekends on the market went under contract to be sold in May 2024. Five metropolitan areas in Connecticut rank among the top 10 percent of hottest seller’s markets in residential real estate, according to Zillow’s latest index capturing listing and sales activity through April 2024.

Alexander Soule/Hearst Connecticut Media

Within five days of hitting the Avon market at a $749,000 asking price, the Indian Pipe Trail house had a buyer — and for $151,000 over the owner’s target figure. At smaller differentials, it was the same story on the last day of May for a newly sold Penwood Crossing colonial in Glastonbury, a Cypress Road condo in Newington, a Lexington Court townhouse in Rocky Hill and a Tomstead Road cape in Simsbury. 

The real estate market is hot in the towns surrounding Hartford — but dating back to the 2023 spring market, the Greater Hartford metro area has had months where it was even hotter, according to Zillow’s latest findings.


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Connecticut real estate markets continue to be slanted in favor of sellers, including in the Hartford area, which ranks as the 16th toughest market for buyers nationally, according to the latest installment of a Zillow “market heat” index. Compiled by the online real estate marketplace, the index gauges three key measures of real estate activity in more than 925 population centers nationally.

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“That’s what we are seeing out in the field — a lot of properties do sell after the first weekend, over asking price,” said Lucas Nash, president of the Greater Hartford Association of Realtors and a broker in the Avon office of Century 21 Allpoints. “Wherever you are, it’s a very competitive market for buyers.”

Zillow crunches a numeric score for metropolitan areas based on “user engagement” on Zillow’s active home listings; houses and condos where asking prices get reduced; and how many go under contract within three weeks of being listed.

The Bridgeport-Stamford corridor ranked just outside the top 30 among seller’s markets, with the New Haven area a dozen rungs lower. Hartford and Bridgeport were among the top 10 hottest markets at the end of last year, before tailing off by the time the spring market rolled around to the most recent standings.

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In all, just over 200 U.S. population centers have scores that meet Zillow’s criteria as “strong” seller’s markets, including the Torrington and New London regions ranking 72nd and 88th nationally. 

In New York, Rochester has topped the seller’s market list in 11 of the past 12 months, with Albany, Syracuse, Buffalo and Batavia also ranked high on the Zillow index over that span. 

Others that have hovered consistently in the upper-most echelons of seller’s markets since the spring market of 2023 include San Francisco and San Jose, Calif.; Boston and Springfield, Mass.; Lewiston and Portland, Maine; Manchester, N.H.; Trenton, N.J.; and Juneau, Alaska.

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Less than 40 real estate markets nationally qualified as strong buyer’s markets, with the only Northeast entry being Berlin, N.H., in the White Mountains near the Maine border.

In a separate “home purchase sentiment” index published by Fannie Mae, just 20 percent of those polled indicated it is a good time to buy a home, with two-thirds of respondents saying it was a good time to sell. But would-be buyers appear to be adjusting to the prolonged upward swing in mortgage rates and asking prices, Fannie Mae added.

Milwaukee was the only major metropolitan area that saw a smaller percentage of listings with price cuts than the greater Hartford area, according to Zillow. And it had the seventh smallest gain for newly listed houses for sale, up just 7 percent in April from a year earlier.

Nash said it can be a frustrating process for buyers, but one that can go smoother for those who retain an agent to assist in perusing listings, and preparing for the deeper dive in making a formal offer and the negotiations that follow.

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“You have to be very diligent — and it can be disheartening for some buyers who put in offer after offer,” Nash said. “But patience is a virtue and it works out for many buyers.”

Includes prior reporting by Christian Leonard and Liese Klein.

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