By Mike Tebay
At the February 18 meeting of the Retired Men’s Association Bob Meaney introduced the speaker, the RMA’s current president, David Michonski, who gave an update on the real estate market. David has had an extensive career in real estate and consulting around the globe. He has advised the U.S. Department of State, has managed the Greenwich office of Coldwell Banker, and is the CEO of Quigler, Inc. He’s a graduate of Colgate, and has studied at Harvard, Boston College, and Wharton. David was assisted by his lovely wife, Linda, who went into detail about revaluation and assessments. Linda has been a real estate agent for more than 30 years, having started out in Beacon Hill in Boston. She is now with Douglas Elliman here in Greenwich. With David, Linda is the co-author of a real estate guide titled, “Get Your Highest Price.”
Linda Michonski opened the session by addressing the elephant in the room: a town-wide average assessment increase this year of 27 percent. She explained that this spike was part of a five-year revaluation cycle, a process that left many residents looking for a way to contest their new tax burdens. Linda walked the audience through the mechanics of an appeal, noting that the window for action was narrow, with a deadline of February 20. She detailed the specific criteria for senior and disabled tax credits, which required residents to be at least 65 years old with an income below $86,500. The home must also be a primary residence, and have an assessed value of less than $2,281,335, based on the 2025 Grand List.
When David Michonski took the lectern, he shifted the focus to what he irreverently termed “real estate porn.” He used the phrase to describe the public’s obsession with scrolling through luxury listings on platforms like Zillow, Homes.com and Realtor.com. David pointed out that while there are only about eight million active buyers and sellers in the United States annually, these sites attract over 400 million unique visits per month from people who log in to look at houses they likely have no intention of purchasing.
The highlight of the presentation was a countdown of the ten most expensive sales in Greenwich for 2025. David guided the audience through a gallery of excess, illuminated by listing details and by striking photographs of expansive water views, manicured lawns, sparkling pools, pristine tennis courts, luxurious theaters, saunas, gyms, wine cellars, soaring ceilings and gleaming marble. He started with a $17.3 million estate on Longhorn Lane, that featured 12 bathrooms for its eight bedrooms. He lingered on a property on Creamer Hill Road, which he described as the “steal of the century.” Though it sold for $19.5 million – a significant drop from its $39.5 million list price – the value lay in its 81 acres and nine already-approved subdivided lots, making the mansion itself essentially a million-dollar afterthought.
The narrative reached its peak with the most expensive sale of the year: a $43 million new construction in the exclusive Khakum Wood enclave. This 26,000-square-foot behemoth carried an annual tax bill of nearly $300,000. David contrasted these figures with Mead Point, where the gated community once saw the sale of the historic Copper Beech Farm for a record-breaking $135 million.
The broader market data David shared was equally startling. The average price for a single-family home in Greenwich had performed a “moonshot,” reaching $4.3 million – a 21% increase that pushed the market above the $4 million threshold for the first time in history. It represented an increase of $2 million since 2019, after plateauing for a decade. David noted an especially large increase in sales at the top of the market – the median price increase was a “mere” 10%. This surge was driven by a historic shortage of inventory – the town had only 471 new listings compared to its traditional average of over 1,000 – and average days on the market were at an extraordinary low of 70 days, compared with a historical average of around 200 days. David noted that there is a national housing shortage estimated at four to seven million homes. He attributed this national housing deficit to the lingering effects of the 2008 Great Recession, which drove many builders into bankruptcy and discouraged others from creating new inventory for nearly a decade. In Greenwich a further contributing factor was a lack of available land, with the Town being 98% built out.
In contrast to single family homes, the average price of condos and coops in Greenwich had remained essentially flat in 2025 relative to 2024, perhaps attributable in part to the fact that condos and coops had accounted for most of the new construction in Greenwich in recent years.
During the subsequent discussion, local context was provided through mentions of figures like Scott Frantz, a former Connecticut State Senator, whose prominent local presence served as a touchstone for the audience’s questions about neighborhood exclusivity and political dynamics. David also addressed concerns about private equity firms buying up residential housing, explaining that while this is a significant trend in states like Texas and Florida, it represents only about 8% of the total ownership nationwide, and probably rather less in Greenwich. He concluded by noting that, while Greenwich remains a premier national brand, it has recently slipped to third in Connecticut income rankings, trailing behind the neighboring “Gold Coast” towns of Darien and Westport.
The RMA’s next presentation, “Bridging Generations: Parenting Adult Children and Grandchildren in a Changing Cultural Climate” by Trevor Crow, is scheduled for 11 AM on Wednesday, March 4, 2026. RMA presentations are held at Christ Church Greenwich, Parish Hall, 254 E. Putnam Avenue, Greenwich, CT 06830.
In this presentation on estranged grandparents and adult children Trevor Crow covers the emotional realities of estrangement, reasons it occurs, and evidence-based strategies for repair and reconnection.
Estrangement between grandparents and their adult children is a widespread and painful issue, often resulting in limited or no contact with grandchildren. Common reasons include past family dynamics, unresolved hurts, differences in values, boundaries, or disputes about parenting styles. The roles of grandparents have evolved, shifting from authority figures to more peripheral participants in their grandchildren’s lives, occasionally heightening tensions. Estranged grandparents often face feelings of loss, grief, confusion, loneliness, and helplessness. Crow will explore strategies for repair and reconnection, reflection to understand, initiating respectful contact, taking responsibility, listening more, judging less, and healing through forgiveness, compassion and love.
Trevor Crow is a Certified Executive Coach, author, licensed Marriage & Family Therapist (LMFT), and Certified Emotionally Focused Therapist (EFT). She has her own radio talk show focusing on relationships, Trevor & Friends, Tuesday at noon on WGCH, also available as a podcast and on YouTube, Substack and Spotify. Her latest book is “Blending Families: Merging Households with Kids 8-18.” A prior book was “Forging Healthy Connections: How Relationships Fight Illness, Aging and Depression” (both co-authored with Maryann Karinch). Trevor holds an MBA from Harvard and a master’s degree in Marriage and Family Therapy from Fairfield University. She lives in Greenwich and in 2022 ran for Connecticut State Senate, losing in an extremely close race.
To stream the presentation by Trevor Crow at 11 AM on Wednesday, March 4, click on https://bit.ly/30IBj21. This presentation will also be available on local public access TV channels, Verizon FIOS channel 24 and Optimum channel 79.
Note: The views expressed in these presentations are those of the speakers. They are not intended to represent the views of the RMA or its members.
RMA speaker presentations are presented as a community service at no cost to in-person or Zoom attendees, regardless of gender. Any member of the public who would like to receive a weekly email announcement of future speakers should send a request to members@greenwichrma.org. The RMA urges all eligible individuals to consider becoming a member of our great organization, and thereby enjoy all the available fellowship, volunteer, and community service opportunities which the RMA offers to its members. For further information, go to https://greenwichrma.org/, or contact info@greenwichrma.org.
