By Judy Szablak
Special to WestportNow
If you are truly interested in selling your Westport home, now is not the time to take it off the market.
Featured Home: This home at 5 Blackberry Lane is listed at $3,495,000. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) Photo courtesy of The Riverside Realty Group/ Westport
Over the last seven days alone, 14 property listings were either withdrawn, canceled, or expired. In the last 30 days, over 21 percent of the available homes were removed from the marketplace.
For clarification purposes, a withdrawn listing is still technically listed, but not available for showing.
A canceled listing is where a homeowner has decided to no longer sell, or can also be viewed as an attempt to reduce market time. An expired listing denotes the end of an agreement with a Realtor to sell the home.
All three keep the cumulative time running in our Multiple Listing Service, although if enough time has lapsed, neither a canceled or expired listing will add days.
It is certainly understood that a homeowner may want to restrict showings, especially for a few days throughout the holiday season, or in anticipation of upcoming inclement weather.
However, buyers still need to purchase, and your home will most certainly not sell if it is not active in the marketplace.
Market Stats
There are currently 264 homes that are actively on the market. They have been listed for an average of 154 days, with a cumulative market time of 269 days.
The average list price is $2,312,453 and the median price is $1,749,000.
A home on Beachside Avenue is the highest priced property for sale at $32 million, and the lowest available priced single-family is a two-bedroom cape on Main Street for $449,900.
Just four 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the market in the last seven days, and one property came back on the market after being under deposit, or temporarily withdrawn. Four properties had a price change.
Six properties have gone under the initial deposit stage, which we call CTS, and another seven properties went into pending status, which means that the conditions have been satisfied, and the property is scheduled to close.
The average price of those seven pending properties was $2,033,286. There are currently 21 homes in CTS status throughout Westport, and another 32 properties scheduled to close town-wide, with an average price of $1,353,354.
Closings: There were four single family homes reported as sold in the last week, and they were listed on average at $1,530,750 with an average market time of 69 days.
There were 40 status changes in the last seven days.
Condos: There are nine condominiums that are available, and they have been listed an average of 103 days. Their average listing price is $641,444 and the median price is $679,999.
The highest priced condo in town is listed at $1,150,000 and is a three-bedroom home located at Regents Park, and the lowest priced unit for sale is a two-bedroom home on Hills Lane for $299,000.
There were no new listings this week, and no homes came back on the market. There was one price change, and no properties went under the initial stage of deposit.
Two homes entered pending status, and were listed on average at $544,000.
There are three properties town-wide that are currently in CTS status, and there are three properties scheduled to close.
One sale was reported during the last week, and was listed at $580,000. There were five status changes.
Rentals: If you are interested in renting year round, either furnished or unfurnished, there are 65 homes or apartments available. The median price is $4,100 per month and the average price is $6,312 per month.
These year-round rental opportunities have been on the market an average of 86 days.
There are 31 short-term rental opportunities that are available, and they have been on the market an average of 93 days. Their average price is $9,966 and the median price is $5,000.
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: Market Data is compiled from the GFC-CMLS and represents activity through our local MLS system. Private sales are not included in these statistics.
Featured Home
This home at 5 Blackberry Lane is listed at $3,495,000.
This newly built and magnificent 17-room custom shingle style colonial on an easily commutable Long Lots cul-de-sac.
Designed by Donald Fairbanks, built by Barrington Building Company in collaboration with Amy Ringer Designs, this newly built 8,515-square foot home embodies the epitome of elegance, attention to detail, and masterful design that offers an exceptionally open, versatile and sun-drenched interior, with walls of glass that create a seamless flow from interior to exterior spaces.
The living room has a gas fireplace, and French doors to the covered side porch.
The formal dining room has recessed “art nooks,” and a cove ceiling. A fully equipped butlers pantry with quartz counter-tops is equipped with a Thermador refrigerator, wine fridge, and water cooler.
A custom kitchen has quartz counters with a glass tile backsplash and a wall of floor-to-ceiling windows that overlook the level and professionally landscaped 1.38-acre property.
Double islands have a custom designed connecting top, and the breakfast area has sliders to the blue stone patio and another covered porch.
The family room is open to the kitchen, and has a fireplace with granite surround and gas hookup..
A main level library/study has custom built-ins, a wet bar, and French doors to a covered side porch.
Upstairs, the master privacy suite occupies the entire left wing of home, and has its own romantic fireplace with custom mantel, a a sitting room, ad a generously sized walk in dressing room.
The luxurious bath has radiant heated flooring, a freestanding Bain soaking tub, and an oversized shower with rainhead.
There are also five en suite bedrooms with walk in closets on this level, two of which share a guest lounge.
The third floor offers an additional 1,775-square feet with cathedral ceilings that could easily be finished to create an au pair suite or exceptional recreation or game room.
The walk-out garden level has a glass door leading outside, along with a bedroom, full bath, exercise room and game room.
Extras and items to note—Six bedrooms, seven full and one-half baths, three fireplaces, 10-foot ceilings on the main floor, 9-foot ceilings on the upper level, audio system with surround sound, security system, hydro air heating system, public water and sewer, main level command center, outdoor kitchen, three-car garage, irrigation system, room for pool and tennis court.
Annual taxes are $40,392.
Listing/photo courtesy of The Riverside Realty Group/ Westport.
(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.
