|
|
|
July 1, 2009 -- Single-family home sales in Connecticut declined 12.5% in May, the smallest monthly decline this year, adding to indications that the sales decline is bottoming out. While the year-to-date drop of 15.1% statewide showed significant variation – from 4.3% in Tolland County to 22.2% in Fairfield county – the county decreases in median sales prices were more modest. The number of bank-owned property sales in Connecticut jumped significantly to nearly 6 percent of single-family home sales transactions so far in 2009 compared to just 1 percent last year, according to The Warren Group, publisher of The Commercial Record. While year-to-date single-family sales dropped 24.2 percent from 9,157 during the same five months last year, 397 involved a bank or other lending institution, according to The Warren Group. During the same months last year, only 105 single-family home sales were of bank-owned properties. “The sale of foreclosed homes has become a larger share of the residential real estate market in Connecticut. Still, those sales haven’t helped to boost the state’s housing market because sales in May were anemic,” said Timothy M. Warren Jr., CEO of The Warren Group. “In the late 1990s and into the early part of this century, Connecticut was averaging over 3,500 single-family home sales during the month of May. Last month, we had fewer than 1,900 home sales, making it the slowest sales pace for the month of May since we started tracking changes in real estate sales in 1987.” Click here for a pdf with the May data from the Warren Group. For data from previous years, click here. .............................. |
|
|
June 26, 2009 -- The current housing crisis has caused many changes in how we view our homes and the homes that are being built. Click here to view a video segment from the June 23rd edition of the ABC World News exmaining these issues. The report features Connecticut builder and HOMEConnecticut Steering Committee member Greg Ugalde, President of T&M Building Company, discussing the reduction of house sizes from McMansions to smaller, more affordable units. .............................. |
|
|
June 17, 2009 -- The success of the HOMEConnecticut program appears to be rippling out to national policymaking, as evidenced by comments Senator Dodd made in a Senate Banking Committee hearing held yesterday. Senator Dodd, who chairs the Senate Banking Committee, along with HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan, DOT Secretary Ray LaHood and EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson announced a Partnership for Sustainable Communities that will promote mixed-income housing near transit. The Partnership for Sustainable Communities will coordinate budgets and grantmaking so that regions and municipalities are encouraged to create mixed-income housing near rail lines and in town centers in environmentally sensitive and energy efficient ways. At the hearing, Senator Dodd spoke of HOMEConnecticut as a model for this new national initiative. Statements from the hearing and a webcast. | Hartford Courant story on the hearing. .............................. |
|
|
May 22, 2009 -- Final House action late Friday on a deficit mitigation bill for the fiscal year ending June 30, SB1167, has left funding for the HOMEConnecticut program intact. A strong effort by members of the HOMEConnecticut Steering Committee, housing advocates and boosters from the environmental, transportation, housing and education sectors in the past several weeks helped save all of the original appropriation made by the General Assembly in 2007 to finance planning grants and incentives to towns seeking to create mixed-income housing under the program. The General Assembly had initially sought to sweep as much as $3 million of technically unspent -- but largely committed -- funds. And late this week, Republican amendments in the House and Senate that would have swept $1 million of the HOMEConnecticut funds were defeated on largely party line votes. While the work by our lobbyists and friends successfully demonstrated the strong demand and support for the program -- more than 60 municipalities have applied for or are planning applications for the grants, and two municipalities, Wallingford and Old Saybrook, have submitted the first applications for Incentive Housing Zones -- that work is not over. The coming deliberations on the FY 2010-'11 biennial budget will likely put the HOMEConnecticut funds, along with other appropriations, at risk again. The HOMEConnecticut Campaign will let advocates and other supporters know if their help is needed again as budget negotiations progress. .............................. |
|
|
May 6, 2009 -- As municipal officials worried that the General Assembly could jeopardize the HOMEConnecticut program and their contracts with experts helping them plan higher density Incentive Housing Zones, key leaders of the General Assembly and Rell Administration voiced strong support for HOMEConnecticut at a forum May 4 at the Legislative Office Building in Hartford. But the Appropriations Committee continues to deliberate on the $240 million-plus list of inappropriate account balances that includes $3 million of committed but as-yet-unexpended payments to municipalities for already-approved planning and technical assistance grants. Continue reading... .............................. |
|
|
May 5, 2009 -- HOMEConnecticut's annual Affordability in Connecticut study is now available for 2008, showing that, despite the sharp declines in housing prices, buying a home in 117 of the state's 169 towns - 69% - remains unaffordable for most residents. The study is an analysis of the ability of a household making median income to afford a median sales priced home in each of state's towns and cities, with towns ranked by the gap between the income needed to afford a median priced home and the median income for each town in the state. The 2008 data show that the recent decline of housing prices in Connecticut has led to a lessening of that gap for many towns in the state, as median incomes continued to rise in 2008. However, tightening credit standards and rising unemployment may mean that fewer towns are truly affordable than can be accounted for in this analysis. The data used in the study was provided by the Warren Group and the Connecticut Economic Resource Center. The study also found: - In 2008, 59% of CT towns had a gap between median income and qualifying income of $5,000 or more.
- The median sales price of a home either stayed the same or increased from 2007 to 2008 in 39 towns.
- The five least affordable towns remained the same when compared to 2007.
Click on the links below to view HOMEConnecticut's "Affordability in Connecticut, 2008" report: You can also view the 2007 Affordability Study or the 2006 Affordability Study. .............................. |
|
| |
|
|
HOMEConnecticut is a statewide campaign aimed at increasing
the stock of affordable housing in Connecticut.
The HOMEConnecticut Steering Committee
Chair:
William Cibes
Chancellor Emeritus,
Connecticut State University
Vice Chairs:
John Rathgeber
Connecticut Business and Industry Association
Andrea Pereira
Local Initiatives Support Corporation
Luis Caban
Southside Institutions Neighborhood Alliance
Includes over 40 leaders in business, banking, academia,
land use, government, law,
philanthropy, real estate,
advocacy, and housing
development.
Staffed by the
Diane Randall
David Fink
Shelby Mertes
Christina Rubenstein
---
Mike Hanley
Senior Consultant |
|
|
