By Mark Pruner
Geno Auriemma can help bring out a big crowd. On Tuesday, the Connecticut Association of Realtors had a rally in Bushnell Park, directly behind the state Capitol, and Geno was the keynote speaker. The Connecticut Realtors have an annual Realtor Day at the Capitol, but this one was different. The normal Realtor Day is a rather low-key event with speeches, a request to give more money to RPAC, and a chance to meet with our legislators. It’s a long trip up and back, and historically there has been enough room for each agent to have their own row of seats in the bus.
This year we filled one large bus and I was in the overflow, albeit shorter, bus. About 70 agents made the trip up to Hartford. A few, like my officemate, Carin Carlson, who works with the Fieldstone Group, were going specifically to hear the legendary basketball coach, but most agents were concerned about what the legislature might do to fill the hole in next year’s budget.
The crowd of 2,200 Realtors from every city and town in Connecticut got fired up by Geno Auriemma’s speech. The theme of the rally was “Give us a Connecticut to sell.” Geno made it clear that, as the largest professional group in Connecticut, we were not going to get that by sitting back and hoping. (You could see in his speech a lot of what he does in the locker room to get his team motivated, including the use of an occasional expletive to stress a point.)
We also got presentations from the senior leadership of the legislature. They clearly realize that, as Geno said, this is the time to take a team/bipartisan approach. They also emphasized all the positives that Connecticut has going for it, and it was a good list; highest per capita income, very well educated workforce, and a state with many natural assets.
Greenwich state Reps. Mike Bocchino and Fred Camillo spoke privately with the Greenwich Realtors in one corner of the park. They spoke candidly of the problems that the legislature will have in crafting a budget. Fortunately, most legislators agree that raising taxes for a fourth time is not the solution. For too long, both Democratic and Republican governors have kicked the can down the road, and this is a budget for which some real solutions will have to be found and some hard decisions will have to be made.
Quick Market Update: In the first ten days of May, we are continuing to see a good assortment of new listings. We now have 656 single homes listings on the Greenwich MLS and 50 of those listing came on in the last week. During the same period, we have sold 11 houses, but that is the way of the spring market. Inventory surges as sales lag, while buyers find the right house and negotiate a deal.
Once the deal is negotiated, our contracts climb as these deals get put on paper. In the first 10 days of the month, we are up to 92 home contracts, which is two more than the beginning the month. Of our 11 solds, the good news is that four of them are over $3,000,000. Our highest sale was 41 Meadow Wood Drive, which sold for $7,699,998 after being on the market for 1,037 days.
As reported in last week’s April market report, we have had an up and down year in sales. Part of this is attributable to what Hartford is going to do with the budget. Whatever they decide will move a significant amount of uncertainty from our market.
Mark Pruner was the #1 Connecticut agent for Douglas Elliman in 2015; mark.pruner@elliman.com, 203-969-7900.
