Home Prices Fall By More Than

Ten Percent

NEW HAVEN (AP) — Home prices in Connecticut dropped more than ten percent in May from a year ago, the first double-digit percentage drop in 16 years, a research firm reported Tuesday.

The Warren Group, publisher of The Commercial Record, says the median price of single-family homes in Connecticut fell 10.8 percent in May, from $305,000 in May 2007 to $272,000 this May. That was the first double-digit drop in percentage since July 1992, when prices fell 10.3 percent.

The 2008 year-to-date prices declined 7.6 percent, from $290,000 to $268,000.

Single-family home sales declined 24.5 percent in May, from 3,008 last year to 2,271 this year. Year-to-date sales fell 26.5 percent, from 12,390 to 9,104.

The price drop was the worst since the housing slump in the early 1990s, according to The Warren Group.

“Clearly, this downturn is showing no signs of relenting, and without a pickup in sales, it could be more severe than the last one,” said Timothy Warren, Jr, chief executive officer of The Warren Group.

Fairfield County again experienced the state’s biggest sales drop in May, with single-family home sales declining 44.6 percent from a year ago. The median price of single-family homes in Fairfield County fell 13.2 percent in May, from $627,500 to $545,000.

Litchfield County also saw large declines, with sales in May falling 22.4 percent, from 183 to 142, and prices dropping 17.2 percent, from $302,000 to $250,000.

Condominium sales statewide declined 36.2 percent in May, from 1,338 to 854. Year-to-date sales fell 32.8 percent, from 5,194 to 3,494. The median price of condos fell 4.1 percent in May, from $208,500 to $200,000. The year-to-date price rose 0.2 percent, from $199,500 to $199,900.