Sponsored by KMS Team at Compass

WESTPORT–The market for residential real estate in and around Westport is throwing curveballs at both buyers and sellers. Interest rates are rising, causing the market to pause and take stock.

In the two years after the start of the pandemic, hundreds of families relocated to Westport. 

This demand caused prices to rise and induced an equal number of homeowners to sell their houses and to realize a tidy gain. According to a New York Times analysis of Federal Reserve data, homeowner equity across the US rose by six trillion dollars during the pandemic.

“A lot of homeowners have sold their homes,” said David Weber, a realtor at the KMS Team at Compass. “Many sellers moved out of the area but many have stayed in-town or close by. A lot of Westporters are sitting on an asset that has appreciated tremendously over the last two years, and are assessing the upside of down-sizing or right-sizing, in hopes of cashing in on the increased value of their home created by the pandemic bubble.”

Even though rising interest rates are recalibrating what buyers can afford, demand for Connecticut homes remains strong for a number of reasons. 

Demographics: Millennial home ownership has hit 42%, according to ApartmentList.com, compared with 48% for Gen Xers and 51% for baby boomers at the same age. Although nearly 18% of the 72+ million Millennials believe they will rent forever, many are pursuing the American dream of home ownership. Sixty-five million members of Gen-Z are entering the housing market now.

Money: That increased demand for apartments is driving up rental rates, making home ownership relatively more attractive.

Increased interest in suburbanization: Anecdotally, many recent Westport home buyers have been seeking refuge outside the city, but most need work-from-home spaces. This has helped drive up prices. Last month, according to MLS the median sales to list price ratio was 104% in Fairfield County and 107% in Westport.

Supply shortage: In Westport, MLS says that today’s market has about one-quarter of 2019’s listings. Listings in Weston and Fairfield are similarly scant. Relief is years away–proposals for residential development in Weston and Westport are just in the planning stages.

Older housing stock: The median age of a US home is about 44 years; Fairfield County homes are, on average, 53 years old. The demand for brand new or renovated homes remains strong. 

According to Andrew Texeira, a Mortgage Loan Officer at US Bank, “I’m seeing a real mindset shift in urbanites moving to Fairfield County–and this isn’t just happening here, it’s happening all over the NYC suburbs. Families are moving out of the city because they want to move out, they see the upside of living in the suburbs and they are no longer yoked to a Manhattan or Brooklyn office.”

Texeira continues, “What started during Covid persists today. Families in Brooklyn and Manhattan are coming up to Westport, looking around, talking to people and realizing, hey, this ain’t bad. I could live here.

“And because inventory is so low today, the pool of buyers continues to grow, new families are coming up every weekend looking for their starter house, while the brokers are crazy busy trying to find homes for the folks who came up in May or February or 2021.

“It is still a good time to buy – sellers should see this as a good time to realize the gains they’ve made. And buyers should realize that, historically, home ownership has been a good hedge against inflation.”

(Note: KMS Team at Compass has a business relationship with Westport Journal. KMS Team at Compass Westport is an exclusive real estate partnership, serving Connecticut — Westport, Weston, Fairfield, Norwalk, Wilton and beyond. (203) 295-4375. www.kmspartners.com)