The Hartford area housing scene ended 2010 with the same familiarly bleak theme as 2009: Amid dropping demand for used homes, more houses poured into a market in which it took ever longer to match buyers and sellers.
The Greater Hartford Association of Realtors says December closed sales of area houses fell 8.7 percent to 7,833 units from 8,578 units the same month a year earlier. Pending sales were down 11 percent.
New listings grew 7 percent to 16,983 units from 15,880 in December 2009, with the average time waiting to be sold lengthening to 73 days from 71 days.
There was a bright spot. Among houses that found buyers, median sale prices rose 1.5 percent to $230,500 in December from $227,000 a year ago, the group said.
The same sales and pricing trends were apparent in the area’s condominium market, the association said.
