You may have recently heard about the “surge” in Real Estate transactions and prices. Before the pandemic set in in March of last year, we were seeing a push in real estate that we hadn’t seen for many years. However, in the first quarter of 2021, this surge is truly unprecedented. Low inventory is skewing the supply and demand curve and we are seeing an increase in prices across the board.

This trend is not localized to Ridgefield either. Because we work with buyers and sellers in a number of Fairfield County towns, we are observing this surge there as well. Click here to view the latest market stats for all Fairfield County towns.

Well qualified buyers are finding the market extremely competitive at the moment. As the spring weather warms and vaccinations make the promise of a return to somewhat normal a reality, we are also seeing increased confidence by sellers to list their homes.

It is also interesting to note, that the total dollar volume sold is outpacing the increase in the actual number of transactions, meaning that more properties are transacting at higher price points. In Ridgefield, compared to last year, 33% of all sales were in the over $1-million category, as opposed to only 14% in Q1 2020. As such, both the median and sales prices have increased this year.

Prices and Sales Continue To Rise
Compared to Q1 2020, all indicators point to a robust sellers market. The overall sales volume for single family homes was up 106% over last year closing out the quarter with $102,363,182 as compared to $49,703,144 at this time in 2020. The number of sales increased from 70 to 108, and the median and average sale prices also climbed. The median value of a Ridgefield single family home sits 44% higher than 2020 at $859,500, while the average price rose 33% to $947,807. Homes are also selling at 99.6% of their list price compared to 96.2% at the end of Q1 2020.

Days On Market and Inventory Remain Low
One of the key indicators of the strength of the market is the Months of Inventory – the lower the number generally the stronger the market. Currently, at the end of the first quarter this year, we have only 2 months of inventory available compared to 7 months in 2020. Due to the number of buyers still wanting to purchase, this is placing pressure on the market and making it increasingly competitive. The median days on market has also declined from 110 days last year to 62 this year, with many homes taking deposits the first few days after they enter the market.

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