We're All Busy!

We are smack dab in the middle of our slow season, but it isn't slow!  Although there have been some epic lows in the temperature department, and some messy storms, it isn't shaping up to be the winter that the last ones were. People are looking at real estate, and they are looking both on line and in person.

Weather may be part of it, but I also have thought for some time that we just aren't as seasonally tied as we used to be.  Maybe it's because Connecticut is old on average, and doesn't care as much about the school calendar.  Maybe it's because taxes drive real estate purchases as much as anything does, and that means end of year for lots of people.  Maybe there just isn't any reason at all. Whatever the answer, we can't tell what kind of winter we'll have until we're in the thick of it. 

It's also true that it may not matter that much, because we say that the market is "late" or "early", if the listings and sales don't mostly come in the spring.  That's really just another way of saying that the market for real estate is not as predictable as it used to be.  What that means for us now?  We have buyers and tenants out there, so sellers should decide that spring has sprung, no matter the temperature, and list as soon as possible!

Unemployment Insurance in CT

I am really starting to feel like a right-wing conservative.  Today's rant is about the rates for unemployment insurance in CT, which are the highest in the country. For every $100 a Connecticut employer pays in wages, it pays $2.30 to the State against unemployment claims.  One other state is at 2.1%; California, famous for the outer reaches of costs, is third at 1.8%.  The average is .60 per $100, or about a quarter of what we pay here.  And we wonder why jobs go elsewhere?

In another unfortunate move this week, the city of Stamford added an extra tax on real estate sales over $1 million. That may not be so bad in another part of the State or country, but a million-dollar base picks up a fair number of houses there.  What will that do to future home sales?

Connecticut, stop taking us for granted!  Many people have a choice of whether or not to move here, or buy property here.  Indications are that many are choosing not to invest, and our average home prices have just gone down for the eighth month in a row.  Compare that to everywhere else, and you will see why business owners worry.