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Fairfield Endures Volatile Real Estate Ride In 2014

FAIRFIELD, Conn. -- The final numbers for the real estate market in Fairfield in 2014 ended up decent but not until enduring volatile sales activity throughout much of the year.

This beachfront home on Fairfield Beach Road is currently on the market in Fairfield.

This beachfront home on Fairfield Beach Road is currently on the market in Fairfield.

Photo Credit: William Pitt Sotheby's International Realty

“It was a very interesting and exciting year,’’ said Brad Kimmelman, brokerage manager of the William Pitt Sotheby’s International Realty office in Southport. “We had a dismal first three months, then it picked up, and from July on it was stop and go. We didn’t have that constant hum.”

For the fourth quarter, there were 120 closed unit sales in Fairfield, a 25 percent drop from the last quarter in 2013. Median sale price also fell 3 percent for the quarter compared with 2013.

For the year, sales fell 10 percent in Fairfield and the median sale price fell 1 percent.

“After you have a year like 2013, the pent-up demand was exhausted a little bit,’’ Kimmelman said. “The air was let out of the tires.”

Rick Higgins, founder and CEO of Higgins Group, said 2013 was "a pretty good year. It was like scoring 20 points in a basketball game and getting five points in each quarter. You don’t notice it that much until the end. I think a lot of the agents were disappointed. The year before we went through that pent up demand in 2014 there was a feeling of cautiousness. That's gone now. We're having a very active January."

Snow and bad weather hurt real estate in the first three months in 2014, but activity seemed close to catching up through the summer. “August was stupendous,’’ Kimmelman said. “It was one of the best months we had.”

The momentum did not carry over into the fall, however. One positive number for the fourth quarter was the days-on-market in Fairfield was 95, the third lowest total in Fairfield County behind only Oxford at 83 and Danbury at 94.

“Overall we didn’t end the year badly,’’ Kimmelman said. “We’re very bullish for 2015. We're seeing that already. In January we have already surpassed where we were. Interest rates are still low, and there are buyers out there.”

Click here for the Fairfield County report from William Pitt Sotheby’s and here for the Fairfield County report from Coldwell Banker.

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