Let's Make A Deal!!!

The condo market in Westport is, like most real estate in the country, SLOW. But that doesn't mean that there aren't buyers out there. Today's buyers have a bargain mentality. Everyone wants to make a deal. If something is $800,000 they want to pay $725,000 for it. If something is $700,000 they want to give you $600,000. And don't get me wrong there are deals out there, there are deals to be made in every market. But this mentality has become a plague. Home buyers need to examine a property thoroughly, sit down with an agent, and look through the numbers, like what other similar homes have sold for or are currently listed at and then decide if the home is a good value, not if it's the best deal, because the "best deal" might have been terribly over priced to begin with. For example, let's say you're going to buy a new car and one dealership has a car on sale for $20,000 and another dealership has the exact same car on sale for $30,000. Now you go to the more expensive dealership first and finagle with the salesmen and make a deal to buy the car for $22,000. Meanwhile, another person goes to the first dealership and buys the car at full price for $20,000. The first person got the car for $8,000 off of the asking price and the second person paid full price for the exact same car. Who got the better deal? The second person did. Yes they paid full price, but the price was $10,000 less than the other dealership for the exact same car. And this is exactly the issue we are dealing with in the real estate world...everyone wants to make a deal AND a lot of properties are overpriced to begin with.

Let's apply this same logic to the Westport Condo Market. Now, let's take two very comparable condos listed for sale in Westport. A unit in Bradley Commons listed at $699,900 and a unit at Riverside listed at $750,000. The units are very comparable. They both have 2 bedrooms and 2.5 baths. Bradley Commons is 1649 square feet, Riverside is 1,291 square feet. Riverside has no garage whereas Bradley Commons has an over-sized one car. And Bradley Commons is new construction and Riverside is about 5 years old. The interior quality is fairly comparable. They both have granite counter tops, nice appliances, and are well built. But overall Bradley Commons has nicer crown moldings, better appliances and more space.

Now you, the prospective buyer, go out and view both these units and decide you really like them both. But you also want to make a deal. So your real estate agent calls the listing agent for both properties and finds out that they are only accepting full price offers on the new construction at Bradley Commons, but at Riverside they are considering all offers (or they want to make a deal). So you decide to put in a low offer on Riverside and completely blow off Bradley Commons. Eventually after several counteroffers, the seller at Riverside has reached their bottom line of $725,000, a whole $25,000 off the asking price. Meanwhile at Bradley Commons you could get a brand new unit, that is bigger, and has a higher quality finish for the full asking price of $699,900, which would save you another $25,100. So do you go for the better value or do you play let's make a deal and ultimately LOSE?!?

Bradley Commons (cont'd)

We continue on our journey through the only new construction condominium community in Westport, CT, Bradley Commons. I ended my last post with a thorough description of the main and upstairs levels. Now let's talk about the lower level.

The units have a beautifully finished lower level. This level contains an over-sized one car garage with extra storage under the stairs, a tile foyer, and a carpeted bonus room. The entire lower level also enjoys the same exquisite crown moldings as the rest of the unit. It is easy to picture the bonus room as a lovely media room, or family room. It would also been an ideal location for an office. Additionally this space is approved as an optional third bedroom. The lower level is where you will find the mechanical room as well as a walk out to the backyard.

Bradley Commons is a simple community for all ages. It has no amenities and is privately gated. There is ample guest parking with over 30 unassigned parking spots. Also there are three units in the complex that have the ability to add an elevator upgrade; a rare luxury in a townhouse style condominium.

The units are currently being offered for sale at a price range of $679,900-$699,900. It is the lowest price new construction for all of Westport. It is also less expensive than the majority of condos in town and boasts far more finishes.

The Current State of the Westport Condo Market (cont'd)

(Terra Nova, the priciest condos in Westport)

Now that we've been through the current active condos in Westport, let's take a minute to go through what has sold recently.

Over the last 6 months (8/7/08-2/3/09), a total of 5 condos have sold. Those condos averaged 115 days on the market and were at a median price of $891,500. The price range of the condos was $675,000-$1,020,000, bringing the average price to $859,800. The total dollar volume for the condos was $4,299,000.



Over the last 12 months, a total of 16 condos have sold. These condos averaged 112 days on the market and were at a median price of $776,250. The price range of the condos was $315,000-$1,235,000, bringing the average price to $748,343. The total dollar volume for the condos was $11,973,500.



I decided to go back and run the same numbers for 1/1/07-1/1/08. During that time period 43 condos sold. Those condos averaged 96 days on the market and were at a median price of $795,000. The price range of the condos was $310,000-$1,450,000, bringing the average price to $750,133. The total dollar volume for the condos was $32,255,750.



Now I want to point out a few interesting things about these numbers. Everyone seems to be on high alert regarding the doom and gloom of the real estate market. And it's easy to see it that way when you only focus on the negative numbers. I want to focus in on a few numbers to show you why the condo market in Westport is doing fine. Let's look at the median price range for condos in the last 12 months compared to the median numbers for all of 2007. Last 12 months $776,250. For 2007 $795,000. That's only about a 2% drop off. Now let's look at average price. Last 12 months $748,343. For 2007 $750,133. That's only a 0.23% drop off. Now I'm not going to leave out the blaring number that people will point out. Yes, overall listings sold has dropped significantly. There were 16 in the last 12 months compared with 43 for 2007. That's about a 60% drop off. So the bottom line is yes the amount of condo inventory in Westport being moved has slowed dramatically, BUT and it's a big BUT, the median price for condos and average price that condos have sold at has only gone down 2%.

STAY POSITIVE EVERYONE!

The median price for condos sold in Westport has gone UP 23% since 2005. Stay tuned for the next post where I lay out the numbers...

Welcome To The Westport Condos Blog!

Welcome one and all to the Westport Condos Blog! This is the blog to come to for all things related to the condo market in Westport. The goal of this blog is to simply act as an informant, and give people an insider's view of the condo market in one of the most sought after communities in the country, Westport, CT.

For those of you that don't know much about Westport, here's a little background of this lovely town. Westport is a coastal town located on the Long Island Sound in Fairfield County, CT, just 47 miles North from the center of the world New York City, New York. Westport is one of the most affluent communities in the United States and is home to significant cultural attractions, including the Westport Country Playhouse, a longtime regional theater, the unique Levitt Pavilion providing free concerts, a strong arts council, the Westport Public Library, and a heritage as a former artists' colony. The population was estimated at 26,615 in 2005.

Westport was named the fifth top-earning city in the US, with a median family income of $193,540 and median home price of $1,200,000 in July, 2008.

The general market areas in town consist of: Saugatuck, Greens Farms, Cockenoe Island, Old Hill, and Coleytown.

The public school system in Westport consistent ranks among the best in the state. The town's public high school, Staples was ranked the #1 public high school in the state this year by Connecticut Magazine. In 2005, Staples High School was ranked by Newsweek magazine as 452nd on a list of the best 1,000 high schools in the country (Grades 9 to 12) with 1,800 students.

Notable residents both past and present include: Paul Newman, Joanne Woodward, Phil Donahue, Marlo Thomas, Don Imus, Michael Bolton (home currently for sale), Harvey Weinstein, Martha Stewart, Bette Davis, Jim Nantz, Michael Douglas, Rodney Dangerfield, Christopher Lloyd (Staples High School '57), Jim McKay, Rod Serling, Neil Sedaka, Helen Keller, and F. Scott Fitzgerald, just to name a few.

Westport is host to several prominent business including: Bridewater Associates, a global investment manager. Canaan Partners, a leading early stage venture capital firm focusing on IT and life sciences. dLife, a multimedia diabetes education and marketing company. Pequot Capital Management, a hedge fund with $7 billion under investment. Playtex Products Inc., and Terex round out the list.

Although it might not seem it, this is just a small glimpse into this wonderful jewel. Stay tuned for my next entry when I dive headfirst into the Westport Condo Market!