Joe Rocky

Brookfield Danbury New Milford Real Estate Market Summary – July 2011

As the chart below shows the Brookfield Danbury Real Estate Market for the Greater Danbury area enjoyed the best month of 2011 in June. Volumes were the best since June 2010 and prices the highest since last August. Every month of the second quarter was better than any of the first quarter. In Real Estate that is known as the Spring Market and it did arrive on schedule – that’s the good news.

More sobering is the fact that every month this year has had lower sales than the corresponding month in 2010. Median prices were also mostly lower than 2010. Year to date the Median Price is 2% below 2010. So after something of a rebound in 2010 the local market has slumped back – 19% below last year but still 10% ahead of 2009.

Looking at Brookfield specifically, one sees the same trend, shown below on a quarterly basis. Volume through June 2011 is 26% below last year. The Median Price is down 9%. The curved line on this chart shows actual median prices by quarter. The straight line is a mathematical flattening of that line to accurately reflect the trend since 2005. It is a striking visual representation of Real Estate prices in the whole area from 2005 to 2011. The dark bars on this chart represent volume in the first quarter of the year and the light bars represent the second quarter. These show that the first quarter is usually the weakest while the second and third are usually the best.

The graph below represents the same data for New Milford. Year to date volume is down 24% from 2010 and the median price is down 9%. Similar trends as described for Brookfield are shown by the straight line and the colored bars.

The market quite clearly remains a Buyers Market. Here some closing facts as of July 11, 2011:

Town Months Supply of Homes; Current Inventory – For Sale; Sales Rate Homes/Mo.; Sales + Pending

Brookfield 15.7 154 9.8 58

Danbury 13.5 350 26 157

New Milford 16.6 284 17.1 103

Nine Towns 15.1 1606 106.5 639

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Brookfield Real Estate Volume and Prices picked up a bit in May as shown here. The Danbury Area dropped off a little from April. The area includes nine towns; Bethel, Bridgewater, Brookfield, Danbury, New Fairfield, New Milford, Newtown, Sherman and Southbury. Except for Bethel these towns all border Candlewood Lake, Lake Lillinonah or both.

Brookfield’s thirteen closed sales were the highest since last December, roughly twice the monthly average thru April of 6.5 per. The median price dipped a bit to $350,000 but still in the $340-$380 range established in February – April. Five of the thirteen sales were priced above $400,000 and two of those were over $800,000. The appearance of even a few higher priced transactions suggests the market is moving above the bottom level in terms of value.

As of June 14, there are 144 single family houses on the market in Brookfield (up 12.5%), which represents sixteen months supply. That said there 27 homes have taken deposits since April 1 in some stage of the process but not yet closed. This is the basis of the Realtor’s general assessment that the spring market has arrived and should be strong – as long as those “pendings” close and are replaced by new transactions.

Within the broader nine town Danbury Area Real Estate market volume dipped 5% in May which was still the second best month of the year. Median Price was steady at $327,500 vs $326, 000 in April. There are 1600 homes for sale in the nine towns, an increase of 8% from last month. Including “Pendings” the sales rate over the past six months has been at 96.5 per month; indicating a 16.5 month supply – well above the six month figure usually considered a balanced market and well into Buyer’s Market territory.

The Brookfield Danbury Area Real Estate market remains weak, with a few encouraging signs. How well those pendings close and get replaced by new transactions will tell the tale of whether we are on our way out or if a double dip is in store.

Brookfield Danbury Area Real Estate Volume and Prices – April 2011.

Brookfield Danbury Area Real Estate Volume and Prices continue to be sluggish as shown graphically here. The Danbury area includes nine towns; Bethel, Bridgewater, Brookfield, Danbury, New Fairfield, New Milford, Newtown, Sherman and Southbury. Except for Bethel these towns all border Candlewood Lake, Lake Lillinonah or both.

The Brookfield Danbury Area Real Estate remains a Buyer’s Market. For the third month this year total Brookfield closings were only7, bringing the total to 25. This is 30% below last year to date and only slightly better than the terrible 2009 figure. Of the seven sales six were priced below $450,000. The seventh was at $1,000,000. That house had been on the market since July 2008, originally offered at $1,750,000. It might have sold at that price in 2005 or 2006.

There are currently 128 single family homes for sale in Brookfield (up 15% from last month). For the past six months Brookfield homes have been selling at the rate of 5 per month. The 128 home inventory represents a 25 month supply. These figures include only closed transactions – if “Pending” sales are also considered then absorption rate becomes 7.6/mo. and the inventory represents 16.8 months of sales. No matter how you cut it sales are sluggish. The Median Price is up 4% vs last year, but that is probably more due to the inclusion this year of a few more high priced transactions rather than a broad strengthening of prices.

For the nine town Danbury Area Real Estate market, there are 1477 homes for sale (up 16% from last month). Including “Pendings” the sales rate over the past six months has been at 92 per month; indicating a 16 month supply – well above the six month figure usually considered a balanced market and well into Buyer’s Market territory. The city of Danbury is similar with 14 months’ supply, based on an available inventory of 333. 18 transactions closed in April vs a rate of 15/month for the prior six months.

The Brookfield Danbury Area Real Estate market remains weak, with the first quarter of 2011 among the worst in the past few years. The long persistence of the continuing Buyer’s Market puts pressure on prices; which we are seeing. The spring market is here; March and April were disappointing. May and June will give us another look at how 2011 will shape up. There is some anecdotal evidence among Realtors that the Spring Market is late this year and that some positive data is on the horizon. More next month…

Brookfield CT Town Center at Four Corners

Despite many attractions and proximity to two beautiful lakes Brookfield has never had a commercial town center or downtown. A vibrant commercial zone stretches out along southern Federal Road; composed of a series of shopping centers and strip malls. The larger ones are anchored by national chains or supermarkets and the smaller ones have an assortment of cleaners, pizza restaurants, hair stylists and liquor stores. These seem to serve the citizens of Brookfield and surrounding towns reasonably well, although all are drive-to destinations fronted by large parking lots.

Missing is a pedestrian friendly area where people can walk around, visit a multitude of varied shops or offices and stop in for a meal, a coffee or an ice cream. The vision of a Town Center at Four Corners including retail, restaurants, offices and residences first gelled twenty five years ago and has been the subject of discussion ever since. Three recent achievements and the emergence of a fourth concept have moved Brookfield’s vision of a Town Center closer than it has ever been before.

The first hurdle to be overcome was a tremendous traffic problem. A limited access superhighway skirting the southern end of town was depositing nearly 30,000 cars per day on Federal Rd just south of Four Corners. Extending a bypass around the Four Corners reduced traffic by two thirds. If new stores, offices and residences are built at this area now, they will not be overwhelmed with through traffic and trucks heading north. Some businesses that benefitted from the through traffic have suffered making the revitalization of the area more urgent.

The second critical improvement was the development of a water system serving the area. Brookfield has many private water companies, none capable of providing fire suppression on the scale required to protect the amount of new investment envisioned. Years of rancorous negotiations were finally ended and adequate water is now available through a new system recently built with the blessing of business owners, the town and the state.

Third, the town revised the zoning regulations to help developers understand the vision for the area and to facilitate construction of the new buildings needed for the enterprises necessary for a successful Town Center. Existing zoning regs favored the type of strip malls built at the other end of town, not a pedestrian friendly neighborhood of shops and residences. Building height, setbacks, parking and sidewalks were among the revisions included.

Having removed these obstacles the Town Center at Four Corners now needs investment. Brookfield will be reaching out to developers and requesting proposals for improvements to the area. The possibility of an Economic Development Corporation is also under discussion. These are approaches which have been used elsewhere with good results.

After twenty five years of waiting, talking, hoping and working Brookfield’s vision of a pedestrian friendly Town Center at Four Corners is now closer than ever.

Brookfield Lions Club Supporting Brookfield Community

Brookfield is a lovely residential community at the northern end of Fairfield County CT. Bordered by two manmade lakes (Candlewood and Lillinonah) it is home to about 16,000 people, who work in Brookfield, neighboring towns, Westchester and even New York City. Recent Real Estate activity has been written about periodically (see Brookfield Danbury Area Real Estate Prices – March and First Quarter; written April 2, 2011)

One of the factors that makes Brookfield special is a high level of community involvement; in many of the organizations found in other communities as well. Brookfield people do care about their town and work to make it better. Rather than go on in general about the collective effort, the blog will go into some detail about the Brookfield Lions Club and their upcoming activities.

The Brookfield Lions are part of the largest service organization in the world. They are one of over forty five thousand clubs in over two hundred countries. Lions Clubs International is considered to be the #1 Non Governmental Organization delivering aid and support to the less fortunate around the world. The Lions tend to focus on vision related issues, but not exclusively. While the Brookfield Lions actively support the International programs, we focus most of our energy on things which impact Brookfield life and area charities.

Here is a schedule of some of the events planned for the next three months or so.

Red Cross Blood Drive April 21, 2011 Congregational Church of Brookfield 1:45 PM -6:45 PM.

Brookfield Memorial Day Parade – organized by the Lions May 29 2:00PM from Brookfield High to Center School with a Memorial Service by the VFW at Williams Park

Shred Day sponsored by Secure-Eco Shred. Bring your confidential records to be safely and securely destroyed after taxes are done. Brookfield Town Hall June 11, 9AM – 1 PM. $5 per box.

Road Race – Strides for the Cure, 5 Mile Run and 3 Mile Walk in partnership with the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation. June 12 9:00 AM at Catigan Park, Candlewood Lake Road – to promote diabetes awareness and research. Close to two hundred runners usually participate.

Potato Bake – in mid to late June the Lions will be cooking baked potatoes and serving them with all the fixings to folks attending the Brookfield Concert in the Park series at the band shell at Town Hall. This is a very successful series and a great way to start the weekend on a Friday night. Although the concert series runs all summer, the Potato Bake occurs once at a date to be announced.

Senior Picnic – also in late June the Lions host a picnic for the town’s senior citizens at the Senior Center in the Town Hall complex. Hamburgers, hot dogs, more baked potatoes, desert beverages and a healthy dose of neighborly camaraderie are provided.

Lions Raffle – The Club is holding a Cash Raffle open to all. Tickets cost $5 each; First Prize is $2000, Second Prize is $1000 and Third Prize is $500. Pretty simple. Only 2000 tickets were printed. Drawing is June 23 at Franco’s Ristorante. Proceeds go to Brookfield Lions Charities, the vehicle for donating to Brookfield and area organizations such as: Brookfield Social Services, Hospice, The Brookfield High School Braille Room, Ability Beyond Disability to name just a few. If you feel lucky or just want to support a good cause contact me for tickets.

For more information about the Brookfield Lions check out www.BrookfieldCTLions.org. To learn more about the Lions Clubs International try www.LionsClubs.org.