Greenwich Time split reporter Neil Vigdor’s interview with our Assessor into two parts. Here’s the second. Waterfront homes held their value, the rest of the residential inventory has been hammered. I’m not surprised by the news that waterfront has held up, but I do hope that this time, the town recognizes that “waterfront” on a tidal creek (ahem) is far different from Waterfront on deep water. A couple of decades ago the town and no such distinction and we got hammered. Good article – check it out.
Gwartney is overseeing the first revaluation in Connecticut’s most land-rich town since the housing bubble burst, a yeoman-like task of adjusting values for 22,500 properties to reflect five years of market volatility.
The process, which involves three inspections of each property; splitting the town up into 53 separate neighborhoods and 12 sub-neighborhoods; and using computer models to come up with values for different sections, is drawing significant attention from homeowners and the real estate community.
“This particular revaluation is going to be a tough one because the real estate market has been through such a difficult tumble,” said Nancy Healy, a partner and president of Shore & Country Properties in Riverside. “We don’t know whether we’re steady or whether we’re still declining.”
On a multicolored map in his office, one that he said is a draft, Gwartney tracks changes in property values by neighborhood since the 2005 revaluation, most of which have declined.
Gwartney pointed to the shoreline areas of Old Greenwich, Riverside and Mead Point in Cos Cob as neighborhoods that have experienced growth in property values. Land values on the waterfront generally run about $100 to $200 per square foot, Gwartney said.
Monsieur Christophe, of the other 50 or so neighborhoods in town, aside from Waterfront, which will drop the most? Will Backcountry drop relative to near-Town, again, as it did in ’95? Will mid-country drop relative to, say, Riverside and OG? What are your predictions? Pierre
Fat chance Mr. Gwartney recognizes or cares about the difference between tidal creek and deep water- the only thing he sees are $$$ – if it’s wet, tax it, it’s waterfront. The Helmsley house can see the sound from Round Hill Rd., so it must be waterfront. Then his best friend, Mr Ladonia can collect his ounce of blood to support some more bureaucrats in town hall to help collect your taxes. All this would be funny if it this wasn’t true.
Is it just me or are there more weekend tag sales than ever in Greenwich? I have noticed signs in nicer neighborhoods and it makes me think my instinct of a double dip recession is spot on. Curious what your readers think.
So, “waterfront’s held its value”, eh? Just one example: 112 Field Point Circle.
6/25/2007: $25,750,000
10/15/2009: $17,500,000. ( 32% reduction)
Waterfront, like all the other real estate, has taken a hit.
Healy also said “If they’re going to raise the taxes on Greenwich Avenue, we already can’t keep the mom-and-pop shops there. I would say we should be a little bit cautious about protecting our very own commercial businesses.”
What the hell does cautious have to do with assessment? The numbers speak for themselves.
You want cautious, tell the school sup’t to make an actual cut in the aud. project.
Tell that to the people who just sold on hearthstone (might be multiple sales)…or nokia who sold on owenoke..and about to sell one on riverside avenue…tell that to the people who just sold the hiddenbrook house…tell that to the people who just sold on druid…tell that to the people who sold on knoll…tell that to the new constructi0n that sold on summit….
and that’s just riverside…perhaps you can run the numbers for both og and rvsd for a more accurate tally and report back
they are dreaming!
I agree with Gideon’s point. This is the old Victor Borghe estate, right? The house has been torn down so it is just land value, which gives us a true measure. Isn’t it 4 prime Field Point Circle acres with a deep water dock?
I also recall some whispers at the time of the 2007 purchase that although the stated sales price was $25.75 million, there were some additional monies paid in the form of assumption of some liens or something, so that the “real” price was closer to $29 million. Can anyone confirm this? If it did indeed sell for $29 million in 2007, this means that prime waterfront is down 40%!!!
Value of dirt, waterfront or not, likely will correlate with S&P 500, especially over decades
Considering illiquidity and carrying costs (including escalating tax rates) of RE, buy&hold dirt may offer weaker net returns than buy&hold S&P 500 index
There has been confusion on this subject of 110/112 Field Point Circle from the beginning on FWIW.
Here is the Town GIS showing Borge’s place as two subdivided lots, each of 2 acres. There was a plan for four lots, but FAR was calculated using the land under the 60-ft wide Field Point Circle, a private road owned in fee to the centerline thereof.
This sneaky approach to FAR was knocked down in court.
So we need to clarify what was purchased, vs what was sold. That may be two very different things.
The docking facility is not deep water, and its replacement is not a sure thing.
http://96.56.48.67/borge.jpg