By Judy Szablak

The market for rental homes in Westport remains competitive amid a 19 percent ratio of homes for rent as opposed to homes for sale.

Featured Home: This home at 34 Lyons Plains Road is listed for rent at $6,000 per month.  (CLICK TO ENLARGE) Photo courtesy of Granite Studios

Currently, there are 75 homes for rent on an annual basis, 14 of which are furnished.  Sixteen homes are reported to be under some stage of deposit, and 50 properties rented in the last three months alone with an average price of $5,115 per month.

The highest priced unfurnished home for rent is a five-bedroom home on Surf Road for $30,000 per month, and the lowest priced home is a two-room efficiency on Imperial Avenue for $1,550. Average market time is 50 days.

The short term or seasonal market is not as strong this year as it has been, although it is still reasonably healthy. As of today, there are 55 short term rentals on the market. Fifty-one have rented in the past year.

By Judy Szablak

There is an interesting sales trend occurring in Westport this year, and it reflects a unique similarity with some of what the National Association of Realtors is reporting on a coast-to-coast basis.

Featured Home: This home at 25 Flower Farm Circle is $3,795,000. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) Photo courtesy of William Pitt Sotheby’s- Westport

Over the last six months in Westport, there have been four price ranges that have enjoyed the most activity. Those ranges are between $700-$750,000, $1.2- $1.3 million, $1.6-$1.7 million, and lastly, $2.25- $2.5 million.

What is striking about these ranges is that first time Westport homeowners begin the trend at the first level, and each subsequent tier could easily be considered a move-up range from the previous one.

Lawrence Yun, chief economist for the National Association of Realtors said, “This spring’s sustained period of ultra-low mortgage rates has certainly been a worthy incentive to buy a home, but the primary driver in the increase in sales is more homeowners realizing the equity they’ve accumulated in recent years and finally deciding to trade-up or downsize.