I spent a fascinating day with Frank Farricker and a local builder Thursday and was struck by the builder’s absolute faith in the inevitable resurgence of the Greenwich real estate market. Hang on for three, maybe five years, he reasoned, and all his projects would be back in the black. Unfortunately for this builder and many of his peers, hanging on for so long may not be possible, and by my logic, they’d be better off accepting the offers of the money guys Frank and I have available to bail out now. But so far, sellers, for the most part, are determined to go down with their ships. Which is okay – we’ll deal with the banks directly, eventually, but it does seem illogical.
Whatever, here is what the situation is:
Current (through April 25) inventory: 932 housing units, 224 condos and co-ops, 708 single family homes.
36 Condos asking $2 million plus, 71 single family houses asking over $8 million.
Sales/contracts this date:
54 total units, 17 condos/co-ops, 37 single family
15 condos sold between $172,000 and $999,000. 1 sold at $1.3, 1 (240 Valley Rd) sold for $2.3. Again, number of condos priced over $2 million, 36.
14 SF sold between $400,000 – $999,000
14 SF sold between $1 – $2 million
7 SF sold between $2 – $3 million
8 SF sold between $3-$4 million
0 SF sold between $4 – $5 million
2 SF sold between $5 – $6 million
3 SF sold between $6 – $7 million
0 SF sold over $8 million
And again, number of single family houses listed above $8 million, 71.
There are plenty of Greenwich house sellers with the wherewithal to sit on their property for five more years. There are even more, I suspect, who either can’t or don’t want to wait. For those in the latter category, the right course of action seems obvious, to me.