WatchYes, Greenwich & Darien have $15 million homes, but they also have lots of 3-br, 1,250 sq. ft. homes that are, frankly, dumps and are very expensive. All homes in the $500s need at least $150k worth of work (like major tree work, new roof, new kitchen, paint jobs, leaks), have major flaws like mildewy basements (or no basement because it is adjacent to a swamp), only one bathroom, rotting wood, no garage, no attic.
Shouldn't fixer-uppers cost $450k?
Is it because underwater sellers are trapped in their houses and can't put them on the market? Are they living for free and have no incentive to sell?
Do short sales really exist?
Some of the area's larger towns have social problems which make those high schools less desirable, so this nuclear family with two young kids is taking them off the table. (Private schools cost $25-$45k per year.)
Ridgefield is too far from civilization (ga$ prices in Conn. are among the nation's highest), has much higher taxes than Greenwich, Darien or Westport and its school budget is being cut (with more to come next year?).
Nearby Westchester County, NY's taxes are much, much higher.
AP says "Cities that weathered housing bust now suffering - Cities that had escaped the worst of housing bust are hurting now". Does anyone expect banker-central (Fairfield County CT and Westchester County, NY) to drop anytime soon?
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Alexandria, VA
tenant in foreclosed house says
Most wealthy east coast counties that are close to major cities/job centers are like that. It is not suprising at all to hear that, especially for half descent SFH or townhome.
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I'm at aol.com
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tenant in foreclosed house says
Actually, Connecticut also has strict foreclosure. But yes, its foreclosures by sale are judicial only.
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You are in one of the most expensive housing markets in the country and you want a cheap house? Sorry, but your simply not going to find what your looking for in that area.
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tenant in foreclosed house says
Hell NO! They should cost $79K
People it's a house! Not a nest egg.
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Try Nassau County. It's a drop cheaper than Westchester.
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No wonder I-95 and the Merritt Parkway are so snarled up all the time -- all those office support-staff workers and retail workers in Stamford & Greenwich have to commute from far away.
It is amazing to me that there are so many people who will pay $700k for a tiny, tiny moldy dump. (or won't they, as in, will they still do that going forward?)
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Chicago, IL
move!
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edvard2 says
I'm seeing a lot of that pattern lately. People rent and move to a cheaper area later buying all cash and living very comfortably.
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Renting a single family home here is NOT cheaper than owning. I'm pretty sure of that. There are very few single-family houses for rent here anyway. [edited to correct double negative]
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Home school until prices come down.
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tenant in foreclosed house says
I'm not sure of the situation in Conn, but here in Cali you can most definitely rent for a lot cheaper than buying.
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Weather has nothing to do with the house price.
Just look at New York City, Beijing, Tokyo and Hong Kong.
Which one has good weather?
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DrKnowNothing says
Glad to see this douchebag bankster is having trouble selling his house in Greenwich -- now at $15.95M, down from $31M. He originally bought it for $19M and put "a couple mill" in. He's not hurting, of course, except for his pride:
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-05-24/greenwich-s-priciest-homes-languish-with-four-years-of-inventory-on-market.html
That said, I'm not really sure what the OP is complaining about. Duh, it's Fairfield County.
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corntrollio says
Not complaining. Just can't believe that the price these run-down dumps are still so high and wonder if people will continue to buy them -- not just the ones that were neglected (why were they neglected? during the bubble, improvements were effectively free!) but even the ones that cannot be fixed up (like the ones adjacent to a swamp with water in the basement and that mildew smell throughout).
Can't believe that someone who can afford a $800k house is willing to live like that. Mercedes parked outside to boot.
The prices of these houses have come down some, but I would have thought they still had more reductions in store.
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I am a frustrated renter in Westchester (where we fled from Brooklyn $$$$$). All I can say is that if my in-laws weren't living here we would be getting the ef out. I think there is just too much wealth in this area and home prices are well beyond the point of absurdity. The banksters keep winning and whatever they don't buy gets sucked up by trust funded europeans.
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Did someone say that Connecticut has lower taxes than NY?
Bucking Trend, Connecticut Budget Deal Raises Taxes, Gasoline Excepted
Driving against traffic in an antitax era, Connecticut lawmakers appear poised to approve a two-year, $40.2 billion budget that includes $1.5 billion in increased taxes on income, corporations and an array of purchases and services, from yachts to yoga classes.
The budget would increase marginal tax rates on incomes over $100,000 for joint filers, $50,000 for single filers and married people filing separately, and $80,000 for heads of households.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/03/nyregion/tax-increases-stand-out-in-connecticut-budget-deal.html
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HousingWatcher says
No. We said that Greenwich, Darien & Westport have very low property taxes and that Westchester County's property taxes are generally much higher than Fairfield County's.
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batak says
I believe what batak is saying is that property tax costs can be internalized in property values to reflect cost of ownership. If property taxes are low, property values may be higher to compensate, and vice versa. The total cost of ownership may be similar, so in order to compare apples to apples, you need to consider all costs of ownership, instead of only the most obvious factor which is house price.
Similarly, in California, Prop 13 keeps property tax artificially low for long holding periods, to the point where Prop 13 causes property values to be inflated to account for this savings. Younger generations effectively pay upfront for this long-term benefit.
Another example: The mortgage interest deduction is actually incorporated into the price of homes. If we removed the mortgage interest deduction tomorrow, the housing prices would slowly adjust downward (because the housing market is illiquid and sticky) to compensate for the loss of the deduction. So yes, you get a "discount," but the price you pay for the house is already higher to account for this discount.
This happens with a variety of factors.
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South Pasadena, CA
John Bailo says
You are weird!