CT’s May home sales surged

Connecticut existing home sales surged 39 percent in May, helped by the impending end of federal tax credits for first-time buyers, a Boston housing market analyst said Monday.

Single-family home sales jumped to 2,575 from 1,849 in May 2009, The Warren Group said. Monthly home sales have been increasing statewide by double-digit percentages since last November.

May’s jump in sales represented the biggest increase in year-over-year sales activity for the month of May since The Warren Group started tracking Connecticut’s residential real estate market in 1987.

A total of 9,227 single-family home sales have been recorded in the first five months of the year, up 33 percent from 6,940 sales transactions a year earlier.

“It’s clear that the residential real estate market is still feeling the effects of the homebuyer tax credits because buyers who want to take advantage of the expired credits have until the end of June to close their deals,” said The Warren Group CEO Timothy M. Warren Jr. 

The median home price in Connecticut was virtually unchanged in May compared to a year earlier. The median price for homes sold in May was $240,000, up slightly from $239,900 in May 2009. The year-to-date median home price has climbed 4.8 percent to $239,000 from $228,000 during the same period in 2009.

“Pent-up demand from buyers who were delaying purchases because of their concerns about the economy, low interest rates and the tax credits have helped push up sales,” said Warren. “But median price gains have been modest so far this year, and we anticipate very slow growth in home values during the recovery.”

In the first five months of the year, 5 percent of single-family homes sold in Connecticut, or 465, were owned by banks or lenders. That’s down from 7.4 percent in the first five months of 2009.

Condo sales escalated 43 percent in May, the eighth straight month that sales have climbed by double-digit percentages year-over-year. Statewide condos sales rose to 745 from 521 in May 2009. Year-to-date condo sales spiked 33.3 percent to 2,738 from 2,054.

Just over 3 percent of the condos sold from January through May, or 91, were bank-owned. That’s up slightly from 2.7 percent during the same months in 2009.

The median condo price in May was relatively flat at $169,000 compared to $170,000 a year ago. The year-to-date condo price is up 2.1 percent to $177,600 from $173,875.