News

New Canaan Single-Family Home Sales Up 18 Percent in July

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The town saw 32 single-family homes sold in July, a 23 percent over 2017, according to new data from the New Canaan Board of Realtors. The median sales price also increased year-over-year for the month, from $1,320,000 to $1,559,500—an 18 percent rise, according to the Board. Here’s a breakdown of the month:

In the condominium market, while the median sales price fell 15 percent year-over-year—from $1,032,500 to $881,000—the total number of sales held steady, at four, according to the data. The median sales price of a single-family home in New Canaan ticked up to $1,450,000 year-to-date. Year-over-year, there were about the same number of homes on the market in July—330 this year versus 332 in 2017.

Around Town

Town Officials To Take Up Abandoned Effort To Rid New Canaan of ‘For Sale’ Signs

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Weeks after real estate organizations in New Canaan abandoned the widely discussed effort, the town’s legislative body is looking into what it might do to create a ban, at least temporarily, on ‘For Sale’ signs here. 

Town Councilman Steve Karl said that members of a committee he helps lead will meet with the chairman of the Planning & Zoning Commission to study how Greenwich accomplished its own ban “because if we want to get this thing going, we are going to have to mirror what Greenwich did.”

“And it is sort of a halfway agreement between the real estate offices and with the town,” said Karl, co-chair of the Council’s Bylaws and Ordinances Committee. Saying prospective homebuyers identify properties online and that ridding New Canaan of hundreds of ‘For Sale’ signs would improve the town’s appearance, the New Canaan Board of Realtors, with support from the New Canaan Multiple Listing Service, announced in June that a six-month “trial ban” would start in July. But before the month was out, the plan was scrapped. Officials said the turnaround came following talks with the National and State Associations of Realtors. At the Town Council’s most recent meeting, held July 18 at Town Hall, Chairman John Engel asked Karl whether a new effort to realize a ban was “on the burner” and he replied that it was. 

Asked about it, Karl said that even with a re-worded ordinance or regulation, there likely would need to be wide agreement among real estate professionals to effective rid New Canaan of the pervasive signs (there are hundreds of residential properties on the market). 

It isn’t clear whether the matter is best addressed in New Canaan through an ordinance or a zoning regulation.

News

New Canaan To Ban Real Estate Signs for Six-Month Trial Starting in July

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New Canaan’s pervasive ‘For Sale’ signs next month will disappear from hundreds of properties on the market, following a decision from the organizing bodies for real estate professionals. The “trial ban” on real estate signs will run from July 1 to Jan. 1, according to Janis Hennessy, president of the New Canaan Board of Realtors. The decision was made by members of the Board as well as the New Canaan Multiple Listing Service, “to further improve our already beautiful town,” Hennessy said in a release. “At the end of that time we will re-examine the issue,” Hennessy said.

Around Town

Did You Hear … ?

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The state Superior Court on April 27 authorized the eviction of a Millport Avenue woman and two men from a New Canaan Housing Authority unit. ***

Buckle up: From May 21 to June 3, New Canaan Police will join a statewide a “Click It or Ticket” seatbelt enforcement campaign. ***

A locally owned company called Sports Media Properties LLC purchased the 2,000-square-foot, red barn-looking office building at 191 Elm St. downtown, behind the DEANE showroom, for $1.3 million, according to a property transfer recorded May 1 in the Town Clerk’s office. ***

The town on April 25 issued an after-the-fact permit to demolish a pool at 53 Alan Lane.

News

‘Good Reason for Optimism’: New Canaan Sees 50 Percent Rise in Home Sales in March

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The number of single-family homes in town sold in March increased by 50 percent year-over-year, from 10 to 15, according to new data shared by the New Canaan Board of Realtors. Sales of houses $2 million and up saw the most dramatic increase, from just two last March to seven in 2018, the data said. For that reason, the median price of homes sold in New Canaan also jumped year-over-year, from $1,381,250 to $1,967,500—a 42 percent rise. Here’s a look at the data:

Janis Hennessy, president of the board, said the figures point to “a nice rebound in March.”

“Single family home sales are up in nearly every price category and the median price increase is strong,” she said. “Buyers have realized the value in a town with such outstanding schools and amenities.