When Good Specs Go Bad

74 Park Avenue, Old Greenwich, ask $4.850M, got a deal in about a week. This is how it’s done.
List: Steve Archino
Sell: Fran Ehrlich

Because this is me, Gideon Fountain, I won’t shame and embarrass two particular builders who have built three seemingly unsalable houses, couple in Riverside, one in Old Greenwich, but those are the facts.

“But Gid”, I hear you say, “give the chaps a break, it’s a tough market!”. Oh really? Then how do you explain all these easy sales of specs in the last six months? And they’re all in the vicinity of the three that won’t sell!

74 Park Avenue, Old Greenwich $4,850,000 ask, deal is  pending

105 Shore Road, Old Greenwich  closed $4,825,000.

12 Long View Avenue, Riverside closed $3,900,000.

25 Lockwood Avenue, Old Greenwich closed $4,150,000.

11 Potter Drive, Old Greenwich  $2,895,000 ask, deal is pending

6 Lockwood Drive, Old Greenwich closed $3,697,000.

9 Crescent Road, Riverside closed $3,140,000.

29 Winthrop Drive, Riverside closed $4,075,000.

Conclusion: if your spec house won’t sell in this market, guess whose fault it is!

 

The High-End Market Stinks (except for these recent sales)

15 Andrews Road (off lower North Street, “close to town”)

I won’t deny that high-end real estate sales have fallen off, attributed to a variety of factors, from fear-of-Hillary/fear-of-Trump, to the US government’s crack down on anonymous foreign purchasers, and according to “Zero Hedge”, the sky has truly fallen.

But somehow, through the turmoil, the Greenwich market keeps chugging along. Not racing, not even “cruising” along, but nevertheless, things are getting sold. Does it often take a bunch of price reductions to get the job done? Yes. Are this year’s selling prices still below 2007 levels, in some parts of town? Yes.

Let’s consider just the seven millions…how many properties have sold in this rarefied category in the last 100 days? The answer is six. Here they are:

4 Cherry Blossom Lane

32 Lower Cross Road

81 Husted Lane

4 Cliffdale Road

15 Andrews Road

14 Rockwood Lane (pending)

Note: As usual, I must use Houlihan Lawrence’s website to display these listings because the Greenwich Multiple Listing Service imposes a time limit on their links, very annoying. Houlihan was on one side or the other for three of these deals, but the others were represented by competing firms.

 

 

Greenwich Bargain Of The Year?

1141 King Street, Greenwich, CT, asking $2.250M, bargain of a lifetime? (click on photo to expand)

19.14 acres of pastoral Greenwich meadow for a lousy $2,250,000? Sure, it’s close enough to Westchester’s adorable little airport that you could count empty seats on the commuter jets flying overhead, but still, take a look at the aerial views, this is beautiful land!

Besides the airport, you’re also mere steps away from some of the best golf courses on the east coast, and two of Greenwich’s finest private schools. This is a bargain. You said you wanted a bargain? Here it is, go buy it.

Note: It’s listed by Jean Ruggiero at Real Living, but I can’t pick it up on their damned web-site!

Brand New And Still Available

11 Cove Road, $11.750M, came on today, builder/agent Mark O’Brien’s latest. O’Brien has done very well in the spec house biz (and even the vodka biz…) Listing: Greenwich land Company.

Reader “Riverside Dog Walker” wonders how many brand new houses are already sitting on the Riverside/Old Greenwich market, not finding buyers.

The answer is fourteen, but of those, only five could be accurately described as “sitting” on the market, which I define as at least six months. The other nine have either just hit the market, or came on fairly recently.

Still, that’s a lot of un-sold inventory, and, as we have recently learned, there are plenty more coming soon to a street near you!

Click link below to see the current inventory:

All the new houses for sale, Riverside and Old Greenwich

Coming Glut Of Riverside Spec Homes?

234 Riverside Avenue, before. This early-1960’s beauty (hint of sarcasm) is no longer with us. it has been replaced by a VERY LARGE spec house. To be priced at what…$5M? $6M? Higher?

Could we soon have a glut of $5M+ spec homes right here in River City? Maybe, maybe not. It really depends on how they hit the market. If it’s all at once, that’s bad. If they dribble out one at a time, that’s better (and of course, like it or not, some of them are going to end up on the rental market).

In any case, there are a bunch on the way. On Riverside Avenue alone you’ll find at least four that will hit the market soon. Then there’s a couple on Hidden Brook, two more on Bayside Terrace, two on Lockwood Road,  one each on Lake Drive South, Winthrop, Summit Road, where else? Anyway, that’s about thirteen…

Here are eight Riverside sites about to come back on the market.