Be sure to check out the entire Fourth Quarter Market Watch report here for an in-depth look at the strength of our markets.
The real estate market has been steadily growing in the areas we serve for some time now, with each year outpacing the last since we started to climb out of the recession. 2017 was no exception: virtually every market we cover finished the year with dollar volume and units sold either ahead of or even with 2016, itself a strong year in sales. The sales are largely driven by each market’s entry segment, and yet we were pleased to observe an uptick in sales in the higher price ranges in many areas, with the luxury sector proving a standout story in some regions. Closing 2017 on such a high note leaves us feeling optimistic about what lies ahead.
At the same time we must acknowledge there are unanswered questions surrounding the big news on the economic front. While we consider it too early to comment on the passage of the new tax bill, and how the new changes may affect the real estate market, we will say that the tried and true economic indicators that have always served as our compass are still going strong. Jobs continue to grow as unemployment has dipped to its lowest point since 2000, the stock market keeps hitting one record-breaking height after another, interest rates are still low and the GDP is expanding at an ever-faster pace, with the Commerce Department reporting a growth rate of 3.2% in the third quarter of 2017. The Conference Board Consumer Confidence Index®’s reading in November yielded an index of 129.5 (1985=100), its highest in 17 years, followed by a slight dip in December to 122.1. Consumer confidence, an excellent benchmark for gauging the health of the real estate market, has been trending upward for several consecutive months now. Needless to say, heading into 2018 with such a strong economic foundation leaves us with an especially bullish outlook.
Our markets demonstrated healthy sales performance in 2017. In Westchester County, the year concluded with unit sales about flat with the calendar year 2016, seeing a 1% decrease, and dollar volume up by 3%, while comparing each year’s fourth quarter revealed that units in 2017 were flat and volume was higher by 6%. Broken out by region, unit sales and dollar volume in Southern Westchester increased by 1% and 4%, respectively, year over year, and 6% and 7% quarter over quarter. Northern Westchester was the slower of the two regions in 2017 but largely caught up to 2016 by year’s end. The market was about flat with the prior year, exhibiting a 5% year-over-year decrease in unit sales and sales volume exactly even, while quarter over quarter, unit sales declined by 10% and volume increased by 3%.
In Connecticut, Fairfield County witnessed solid growth in 2017, with unit sales ahead of the calendar year 2016 by 4% and dollar volume up by 10%, while quarter over quarter, units were flat and volume increased by 10%. In the Shoreline region, unit sales rose by a slight 1% and volume grew by 7% year over year, despite a decline in the fourth quarter of 9% in units while volume remained flat versus the same period in 2016. In Litchfield County, where the high end of the market has demonstrated strong performance, unit sales for the year were ahead by 1% as dollar volume grew by 5% over the calendar year 2016, while quarter over quarter units dropped by 3% as volume increased by 5%.Finally, Berkshire County, Massachusetts, continued its streak of strong sales with units increasing by 5% and volume 12% year over year, and units up by 7% and volume 31% quarter over quarter.
I hope you find this report informative on what’s happening in your market, and invite you to contact one of our sales associates if we can help you with any of your own real estate needs.
Paul E. Breunich
President and Chief Executive Officer
William Pitt • Julia B. Fee Sotheby’s International Realty
