Date: Fri 10-Apr-1998

Publication: Bee

Author: STEVEB

Quick Words:

real-estate-market

Full Text:

Business Heats Up In Newtown's Real Estate Market

BY STEVE BIGHAM

With the economy as strong as an ox and interest rates staying down, now is a

great time to buy a house, realtors say. In Newtown, they are selling like hot

cakes.

Newtown Board of Realtors president Pat Linnel said houses are being purchased

almost as quickly as they are going on the market. "We have more buyers than

sellers right now," she said. "We normally like to have a balance. We're

finding that if a house is priced correctly, its market time is minimal."

Mrs Linnel, a realtor with Curtiss & Crandon, said the industry is seeing

multiple offers on properties. That is great for the sellers, but it puts the

buyers in a difficult position, agents say.

In Newtown, the busiest price range for a house is in the $150,000 to $260,000

range. Trying to find a nice colonial in a nice neighborhood for $250,000 is

almost impossible these days. They go that fast.

"I think the key is that the economy is strong enough so that people are

finally getting their confidence in it back," explained Don Hull, executive

vice president of the Multiple Listings Service of Norwalk. "They've been a

bit pessimistic for the past decade." Mr Hull said there are a lot of "hot"

towns in the area.

In March alone, deposits were put on 83 homes for sale in Newtown, a 56

percent increase over the year before. Currently there are 280 active

properties, including 87 under deposit.

As Mrs Linnel points out, there aren't any bargains in Newtown anymore. People

from lower Fairfield County used to visit Newtown in the hopes that they would

find a better price for the same size house. You may still get more bang for

your buck here in Newtown, but there aren't any steals, she said.

With the market in a frenzy, buyers simply have no time to wait. They have to

make quick decisions or houses will be scooped up.

"Homes are more valuable now than they've been in the past seven or eight

years," Mrs Linnel said. "We're seeing homes come in at exaggerated prices and

that's not such a good thing because buyers aren't even approaching them with

an offer."

A new element in the art of selling a home in Newtown and all of Connecticut

is the issue of "disclosure." Last June, the state's General Assembly passed a

law that now requires realtors to provide just as much information to the

buyer as they would to the seller. The buyer now has access to a market

analysis which allows the buyer to see comparable sales. This puts the buyer

in a better position, Mrs Linnel said.

Currently, there are about 100 licensed real estate agents in Newtown.