Greenwich, Connecticut, Home Sales Plunge 84 Percent in January

Greenwich, Connecticut, Home Sales Plunge 84 Percent in January By Oshrat Carmiel Feb. 18 (Bloomberg) -- Greenwich, Connecticut home sales plunged 84 percent in January from a year earlier as Wall Street losses mounted and financial companies cut jobs, said John Cooke, a broker with Prudential Connecticut Realty. Seven Greenwich homes sold in January compared with 44 the same month of 2008,... [more]

Greenwich, Connecticut, Home Sales Plunge 84 Percent in January By Oshrat Carmiel Feb. 18 (Bloomberg) -- Greenwich, Connecticut home sales plunged 84 percent in January from a year earlier as Wall Street losses mounted and financial companies cut jobs, said John Cooke, a broker with Prudential Connecticut Realty. Seven Greenwich homes sold in January compared with 44 the same month of 2008, according to Prudential data. The average price climbed 5 percent to $3.4 million, driven by the sale of one $10 million property. %u201CBuyers are hesitant because of the economy in general,%u201D Cooke said. %u201CThey don%u2019t think the bottom has happened yet.%u201D The town of about 61,000 people lies an hour%u2019s drive northeast of Manhattan and is known as the nation%u2019s hedge fund capital because more than 100 such companies are based there. The median home price in Greenwich dropped the most in three decades last year as demand from financiers slumped. January sales included one house sold for more than $5 million, compared with six in that price range in the same period in 2008. Two properties sold for between $3 million and $4 million; two for $2 million to $3 million; one for $1 million to $1.5 million; and one for between $400,000 and $600,000. Property sales in Greenwich are closely linked to the fortunes of Wall Street and the financial industry, Cooke said. At least half of the town%u2019s sales are to buyers who work in financial services, he said. To contact the reporter on this story: Oshrat Carmiel in New York ocarmiel1@bloomberg.net. Last Updated: February 18, 2009 16:32 EST [less]