Processing Your Payment

Please do not leave this page until complete. This can take a few moments.

March 4, 2021

Hartford County home listings plummet amid cold weather

PHOTO | Mopic, shutterstock.com New listings in February in Hartford County fell nearly 33% compared to the same month of 2020.
By Matt Pilon

Plummeting temperatures led to fewer area homeowners putting their houses on the market in February.

According to the latest local data from BHHS New England Properties, new listings in February in Hartford County fell nearly 33% compared to the same month of 2020. Listing volume was down by a similar percentage for the first two months of 2021.

Due to single-digit temperatures and snow, Gov. Ned Lamont had enacted the state’s severe cold weather protocol ‒ meant to help the state coordinate shelter for vulnerable populations ‒ several times since late January. The latest stretch was on March 1-2.

Connecticut’s housing market isn’t the only one experiencing the weather-related effects, according to Realtor.com’s monthly housing trends report released Thursday.

The number of homes for sale in the U.S. in February was down 48.6% from last February, a decline of 496,000 homes in all. Meanwhile, new listings fell 24.5%.

“Last month's record cold and snowstorms likely caused sellers to hit pause, even if only temporarily," Realtor.com Chief Economist Danielle Hale said in a statement. "However, in today's inventory-starved market, any setback is significant. Unless we see some big improvements in the new listings trends over the coming months buyers can expect stiff competition. And unlike last spring, buyers may also face affordability challenges as home prices and mortgage rates increase. Market dynamics continue to favor sellers."

While homeowners are waiting out the cold stretch, the Hartford-area market remains relatively hot compared to recent years.

The number of sales in Hartford County was nearly flat in February compared to a year prior (the month before COVID-19 struck Connecticut, in March 2020), but the median sale price was up nearly 25% year over year, reaching $268,200, up from $215,000 in Feb. 2020.

Sign up for Enews

Most Recent

Most Recent

0 Comments

Order a PDF