By Judy Szablak

Westport’s real estate market took a step back this past year, and the year ended up being more similar to 2016 in regards to sales; however, there were some bright spots.

Featured Home: This home at 7 Greenlea Court is listed at $1,429,000. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) Photo courtesy of Higgins Group/Bedford Square.

While the overall statistics show the market has suffered on price, days on market, units sold and sale price to list price ratio over the last year without delving any further into it, it has gained something very significant; and that is a substantial decrease in older inventory.

Just under 15% of the homes that closed last year were on the market for at least one year, and 81% of those 53 homes were on the market between one and two years. Four homes were on the market over three years. This statistic is important to 2020 and beyond as this older inventory is now removed from the marketplace.

Compare that to 10.5%  of older inventory that sold in 2018. In fact, we haven’t seen that high of an absorption rate of older inventory since 2012, which had a rate of 16.5%.

Westport real estate price changes over the past week:

9 Hales Road             $477,000->$462,700
9 Oak View Lane         $485,000->$483,000
8 Kirock Place           $609,900->$610,000 *** increased
169 Riverside Avenue   $675,000->$629,000
220 Lansdowne           $687,000->$679,000
17 Brook Lane           $829,000->$799,000
3 Sherwood Farms       $953,800->$879,100
41 Oak Street         $1,175,000->$1,116,250
7 Webb Road         $1,598,000->$1,498,000
17 River Lane         $1,995,000->$1,795,000
6 Rebel Road         $1,995,000->$1,795,000
4 Willow Walk         $2,225,000->$2,175,000
35 Burr Farms Rd     $3,249,000->$3,099,000

—Judy Szablak

By Judy Szablak

When purchasing a home in Westport, one very important contingency to include is that of a building inspection.

Featured Home: This home at 4 Willow Walk is listed at $2,225,000. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) Photo courtesy of The Riverside Realty Group

The true purpose of a building inspection is to uncover items that pertain to safety and others that fall under the “protect your investment” category.

Most sellers will honor items that need to be repaired or replaced which fall under these two categories. However, it is not uncommon for a buyers to view an inspection as an opportunity to renegotiate the agreed upon sales price for their intended home purchase.

Upon mutual agreement, those concerns can be addressed as either a credit toward the purchase price, or for the seller to repair or replace the item or items prior to close.