By Judy Szablak
Special to WestportNow
When selling your Westport home, it’s crucial to gauge how your property stacks up to the competition.
Featured Home: This home at 4 Christmas Lake Lane is listed at $799,000. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) Photo courtesy of William Raveis/Jeanette Dryburgh & Associates
While most of us think of competition as being in the same general price range, we need to also assess the market in other ways as well.
Let’s look at your surrounding neighborhood of similar type homes to yours. Are there homes in your immediate area that are priced much higher or much lower than yours?
When the surrounding neighborhood and homes are priced much higher, you may be able to ask a higher price; however if your home is considered “overbuilt” for the area, you may not get the price you were hoping for. We have a saying in real estate — “The biggest and the best come down to meet the rest.”
Buyers also look for accessibility to transportation which would include, a home’s proximity to the train and/or highways. A home just a few miles closer with similar amenities to yours may often sell faster and for a higher price.
Some buyers look for a particular style of home, or amenity within the home itself, such as an in-law apartment, a certain acreage amount, and/or waterfront or water views. In that case, they may be looking at houses that fit the bill in surrounding towns as well.
Others strongly consider a radius distance to work, and in that case, they may be looking at properties in other states, besides other towns. Westport does have an advantage in that case as our taxes are quite reasonable.
One should always consider the various types of competition when pricing your home to sell in a stable or challenging market, know the competition and have realistic expectations.
Market Stats
There are now 289 homes that are actively on the market, which has continued its seasonal decline in inventory by approximately 5 percent in the past two weeks.
These currently available properties have been listed for an average of 140 days, with a cumulative market time of 230 days. The average list price has remained fairly consistent over the past 30 days at $2,151,565 and the median price remains at $1,495,000, which is similar to a month ago.
Twelve new listings came on the market in the last seven days, and one property came back on the market after being under deposit, or temporarily withdrawn. Fourteen properties had a price change.
A Tudor-style home on 114 Beachside Ave. is the highest priced property listed for sale at $22.5 million and is an 8,482-square foot waterfront property comprised of three lots on 7.267 acres with 365 feet of waterfront.
The lowest available priced single family is an 840-square foot two-bedroom bungalow on 21 Hale St. that was built in 1900 and was recently reduced to $380,000.
Ten homes have gone under some stage of deposit, including a direct waterfront three-bedroom home at 129 Harbor Road with a 138-foot long deep-water dock that was listed at $2.5 million. The home was originally listed at $3.5 million and was on the market for 534 days.
There are currently 16 homes under the initial stage of deposit townwide, and another 27 scheduled to close. The number of homes that are under the initial stage of deposit are up a few units from last month. However the pending sales have dwindled by 31 percent from last month’s figures.
Closings: There were seven single-family homes reported as sold in the last week, and the highest priced sale reported occurred at 158 Compo Road North, a four-year-old colonial with 15 rooms and 8,714-square feet of living area on .75 acre. The home was listed at $3,125,000 and sold at 96 percent of asking price in 73 days.
The lowest price sale was at 23 Crescent Park Road, and was a ranch with 1,104-square feet. The home was originally listed at $439,000 and has three subsequent price reductions to its last price of $378,500 before closing at $370,000. The home was on the market for 345 days.
Condos: There are 13 condominiums currently available, and they have been listed an average of 112 days, with an average cumulative market time of 144 days. This represents two fewer homes that are available as compared to 30 days ago. Their average listing price is also down by $50,000 to $612,385 and the median price has been fluctuating substantially. and is now down considerably to $612,385.
There was one new listing in the last seven days, and one property came back on the market. No properties had a price change, and none entered the deposit phase.
The highest priced condo in town is listed in the Terra Nova gated community for $1,079,000, and is a three-bedroom, two and one-half bath home with 9-foot ceilings and has 3,005-square feet of living area located at 40 Terra Nova Circle, and the lowest priced unit for sale is a one-bedroom home with 682-square feet on 35 Bridge St. at The Saugatuck, which is an adult complex and was just listed at $166,000.
There are four properties currently under some stage of deposit townwide, and no condominiums closed in the last week.
Rentals: If you are interested in renting year round, either furnished or unfurnished, there are 69 homes or apartments available. The highest priced annual rental is a 7,629-square foot home with outstanding water views was designed by Laurent Dupont and built by the renowned Hobbs LLC. The architecturally significant 15-room colonial has five bedrooms and is located at 4 Bluewater Lane. The home is being offered at $20,000 per month and flexible rental terms will also be considered. The property is also available for sale at $7,950,000.
The lowest priced rental is listed as a 350-square foot two-room apartment for $1,200 monthly and is located at 19 Hale St.
The median price for townwide annual rentals is down a few hundred dollars this week to $4,000 per month, and the average price is $5,125 per month. These year-round rental opportunities have been on the market an average of 94 days.
There are 42 short-term rental opportunities that are available, and the highest priced home is a furnished four-bedroom Mediterranean inspired summer rental with four bedrooms and is offered at $35,000 monthly, and also at $10,000 monthly for the winter season. The home is located at 10 Bluewater Hill South.
Seasonal rentals currently have an average price is $8,544 and a median price of $5,950. Please note that seasonal rental prices are sometimes listed as an aggregate price for the season, or they can be listed as per the monthly rental cost.
Source — Listing information and data is compiled from the SmartMLS and represents listings and activity through our statewide MLS system. Private sales are not included in these statistics.
Featured Home
This home at 4 Christmas Lake Lane is listed at $799,000.
This 11-room Red Coat area colonial with seasonal water views has been nicely customized with a versatile floor plan that also includes a legal one-bedroom apartment.
Originally built in 1928, some charming vintage details still remain, such as the knotted pine paneling in the living room, which has beamed cathedral ceilings and a gas fireplace.
A picture window in the dining room with chair rail molding overlooks the scenic 2.03-acre property.
The kitchen has custom Cherry cabinetry with granite counters and a matching center island, as well as a breakfast area.
A hard to find main level master bedroom has a large walk-in closet, and another bedroom is also on this floor while two others are upstairs.
The legal one-bedroom apartment is attached to the home, and includes a living room with cathedral ceilings, a stone fireplace with raised hearth, a kitchen with granite counters, and a large bedroom.
Exceptional floor plan flexibility in this 3,347-square foot home enables one to either utilize the apartment as income, or effortlessly incorporate it as part of the main home as a deluxe master bedroom suite.
Extras and items to note — five bedrooms, three full baths, two fireplaces, screened porch, walk out lower level, irrigation system, canine electric fence, three-car garage, generator, legal one-bedroom apartment
Annual taxes are $12,579.
Listing/photo courtesy of William Raveis/Jeanette Dryburgh & Associates.
(Editor’s Note: Judy Szablak of Coldwell Banker Westport — Riverside, Fairfield County CT Realtor since 1984 is author of “The Art of Buying or Selling a Home,” and featured on HGTV’s real estate show, “Desperate to Buy.” Email .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) or visit her online at http://www.CThomesAndRealEstate.com.
