Listing pictured in cover image: 262 Pine Creek Avenue, Fairfield, CT. Listed with Ellen Fusco.
Following a significant increase in pending sales at the end of the second quarter and in July, residential real estate contracts and closings surged in August, according to data compiled by William Pitt-Julia B. Fee Sotheby’s International Realty, the company announced today. All territories served by the company across Connecticut, Westchester County, N.Y., and the Berkshires, Mass., continued to see record numbers of buyers in the marketplace.
In Fairfield County, Conn., August single family closed sales increased by 35% versus the same month in 2019 and closed volume increased by 75%, indicating an uptick in higher priced property transactions. The percentage of properties under contract was even higher, with unit contracts increasing 69% and dollar volume of contracts by 147%. Percentage increases were similar across each of these same categories in July 2020 compared to July 2019.
Westchester County, N.Y., also experienced significant sales growth in August, with closed sales increasing by 5% and closed volume by 22% over the same month last year. With the region having endured greater restrictions for showing houses than Connecticut during the months of lockdown, sales activity resumed later in Westchester County than neighboring Fairfield County. By August, properties under contract were on par with those in Fairfield County, with units increasing by 62% and volume by 82% versus the same month in 2019.
According to the company, the unparalleled sales growth continues to be driven by New York City buyers relocating to the suburbs amidst the ongoing pandemic.
“We believe buyer demand will remain unprecedented throughout the rest of 2020 and beyond,” said Paul Breunich, President and Chief Executive Officer of William Pitt-Julia B. Fee Sotheby’s International Realty. “While the level of buyer interest in our markets is unmatched in recent memory, we are encouraging more sellers to consider listing their properties at this unrivaled moment in time. In my 30 years in the real estate industry, I have never seen a market like the one we’re in now.”
