2020 Year End Summary: Stratford, Connecticut Real Estate Market

As 2020 comes to a close, there is no sign of the housing market slowing down in Connecticut. According to Zillow (and from our own observations) Stratford’s 06614 zip code saw housing prices rise by an incredible 12.5% over the past 12 months. The upward trend is expected to continue by another 11.5% next year in 2021. Home prices continue to rise in Stratford as New Yorkers continue to flee high cost housing and high taxes to Fairfield County Connecticut’s relative bargain pricing. It truly is a bargain when compared to New York City and Westchester rates.

Historically, Stratford has been the most affordable town in Fairfield County. It largely still holds this title, though prices are rising to meet the strong demand from homebuyers looking for more space in town. Stratford is a mix of suburban and shoreline neighborhoods that experienced widespread development after World War II in the 1950’s through the 1960’s. For the most part, any land worthy of development has been developed long ago.

With strong prices and demand in 2020 however, new construction has taken off again in 06614. Developers have found the few remaining buildable lots to build on, now that prices support such development. Town officials seem eager to grant any permit that brings new tax base to town.

Lordship, the beautiful shoreline neighborhood has seen both tear-downs with new homes built as well as once vacant lots sold and permitted for new building. We also wrote about this beautiful new home newly constructed on Park Boulevard this year. In the Paradise Green neighborhood in the North-end of town, more new construction was seen at Cutspring road adjacent to the Mill River Country Club golf course. Three new homes all next to each other were built in 2020 with the third home nearing completion as of December 27, 2020.

Another new construction at the North-end located on Wakelee ave recently went under contract at $469,000 within just one week of being listed in the fall of 2020. On the West-end of town near the Bridgeport line, new construction is seen there, too. Perry lane has two new listings which are currently offered for customization (pre-construction) at $495,000 for 3 bedroom, 2.5 bathroom homes with two-car attached garages.

Fairfield County’s best kept secret, I’m afraid to say, is no longer a secret. With new buyers and investment coming in from New York, prices and a competitive market are here to stay for the foreseeable future.

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Information posted is merely the opinion of Time or Space for entertainment purposes only. All information published can be found in Town Records which is made available to the Public.

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New Construction in Stratford’s Paradise Green Just Listed for $469,000

Just a few weeks ago we reported that 224 Wakelee Ave in Stratford’s Paradise Green neighborhood appeared to be nearing completion. On Friday, November 6 the home was finally listed on the market at a whopping $469,000.

This is significantly more expensive than the newly constructed home just down the street at 115 Arcadia Ave that sold in 2017. That home, 115 Arcadia, sold in October 2017 at $405,000. It featured 4 bedrooms, 2.5 bathrooms and 2,284 square feet of space.

Today, 224 Wakelee Ave features 3 bedrooms, 2.5 bathrooms and 1,900 square feet of space. It appears that 115 Arcadia was a good buy back in 2017 after all. To be fair, you can’t really compare the housing market of 2017 to that of 2020 – things have changed so much for Stratford in those three years.

The housing market in Stratford has changed dramatically since 2017, and most of that demand growth came in 2020 with the COVID-19 Pandemic as New Yorkers flee to the suburbs. There is little new construction in Paradise Green today, though there may be one or two homes available nearby on Cutspring Road. However, Wakelee Ave is a much better location, just down the road from Wilcoxson Elementary and walkable to all that Paradise Green has to offer.

A new driveway was just added to this completed construction and the home looks great. We expect that it will sell fast, just like everything else in this neighborhood in the Fall of 2020. Zillow predicts the home price index for 06614 to rise about 9% in 2021; experts say the demand for suburban homes in this area will continue to grow through 2021 with no signs of slowing down any time soon.

New Driveway Completed on Stratford’s Wakelee Avenue

What do you think this one will sell for? We will throw in a prediction of $449,000. Check back in a few months to see what the sale price was!

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Information posted is merely the opinion of Time or Space for entertainment purposes only. All information published can be found in Town Records which is made available to the Public.

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Stratford History in Images

Edit November 9, 2020

As of 11/9/2020 this home is Contingent!

English Tudor Cottage Style 1928 Home in Stratford, Connecticut

Stratford, Connecticut has a wonderful variety of home styles, and if you look hard enough, you’ll find some really unique prewar homes around town. Before World War II, during the roaring 1920’s, ornate and complex building styles were embraced as materials, money and labor was abundant. During the war however, everything was scaled back as many resources were dedicated to the war effort. Today, we can appreciate prewar homes for the special time in which they were constructed. They just don’t build them like this anymore.

This English Tudor cottage style home is located at 919 Wilcoxson avenue in Paradise Green. The round arched front door is still original and is set back in 3-4 layers of brick arches. The craftsmanship and detailed masonry work that was done on this home could only be created during prewar times. Priorities forever changed in 1939, and period homebuilding in particular provides this signature in history we can forever look back on.

1928 Prewar Home in Paradise Green

This home was built in 1928, and is located in Stratford’s Paradise Green on Wilcoxson Ave, just a few hundred yards from Donut Crazy on Main Street. The home is featured on page seventy of Stratford Historical Society’s Images of America: Stratford.

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Information posted is merely the opinion of Time or Space for entertainment purposes only. All information published can be found in Town Records which is made available to the Public.

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Longbrook Park in Stratford, Connecticut

One of the most unique parks in the Fairfield County town of Stratford, Connecticut is Longbrook Park. Yesterday, we posted here about a new home overlooking the park which is going to hit the market soon. This park has new athletic fields where baseball and football games are held, along with a track and children’s playground. One hundred years ago this property was actually a swamp and farm land which was converted to a park in the 1920’s and 1930’s. The land was donated to the town by Elliot Peck.

In August of 1912, the U.S. Army arrived in Stratford to perform military training exercises. This was known as the Camp Lee war maneuvers that took place along the park’s current area and Walter Wilcoxson’s neighboring farm land. Today, the farm land is long gone, developed for suburban homes in Paradise Green. What’s left is the 34 acre park we know today. For amazing original historic photos of the camp in 1912, see this book on Stratford here.

Entrance to Longbrook Park
Longbrook Park Playground

Do you have a favorite park in your town? Does it have a unique history like Stratford? Let us know in the comments below.

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Information posted is merely the opinion of Time or Space for entertainment purposes only. All information published can be found in Town Records which is made available to the Public.

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192 Reed Street, Stratford, CT 06614

This wonderful Cape is situated on one of the best streets in all of Paradise Green: Reed Street. This quiet north-end street has seen a lot of buying and selling activity this year, with homes in the area selling extremely fast. According to public records this home last sold for $269,000 in 2018 and appears to have since undergone a serious amount of renovation. The home was listed in September 2020 at $349,900 and appears to have gone under contract in contingency within 3 or 4 days – very fast!

This picture-perfect 1940 home was built during World War II and features 3 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms featuring 1,373 square feet of living space. This corner lot is surrounded by mature trees and sits on the corner of Reed street and Woodland ave. It’s just a short 5 minute drive to Metro North Stratford station and a 5 minute drive to catch the Merritt Parkway – an ideal convenient location for commuters yet offers all of the peace and quiet of Paradise Green.

Directly neighboring this home on the adjacent corner is 91 Woodland Ave, which is also currently for sale. This neighboring home is a cute 1920 ranch bungalow with 1,181 square feet of living space. It was initially listed for $259,750 but after a price drop is now $235,000. Incredibly, this home was last sold in November 2016 for only $110,000 which was an incredible buy for this neighborhood.

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Information posted is merely the opinion of Time or Space for entertainment purposes only. All information published can be found in Town Records which is made available to the Public.

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Home Sold for $11,100 Over Asking Price in Paradise Green

One of the best streets in the Paradise Green neighborhood of Stratford, Connecticut is Reed Street. This beautiful tree-lined street with sidewalks is unique in that part of the street has mature forest land behind the odd numbered homes. While most homes in Stratford are surround by neighboring property on all four sides, a section of Reed Street has no neighbors directly behind the homes because of a wooded area offering greater privacy. This wooded area is also known for a variety of wildlife such as wild turkey, turtles, deer and white egret birds. Any additional privacy is a highly sought after resource in these quiet suburbs.

Recently, a home in this area located at 51 Reed Street sold on October 8, 2020 for $376,000 according to public records. The listing price was $364,900 which means that it has sold for $11,100 over the asking price. While we don’t know what other factors went into the deal such as agreed upon repairs or closing cost assistance, we do know it sold over the asking price by looking at public record. We do know that the bidding wars leading to highest and best offer scenarios are pushing up prices quite a bit for Paradise Green homes as of late; that may be the case here, too. Like we recently reported, it’s no secret that housing is extremely hot in this neighborhood.

This 4 bedroom 2 bathroom Cape was built in 1940 and has 1,916 square feet of living space on a 6,098 square foot lot. Before it was listed for sale, it appears that significant investment was made into it with new siding, possibly new windows, what looks like a new roof and a newly paved driveway. Additional upgrades and renovations were likely performed on the interior as well. Overall this is a really beautiful home on a quiet street.

Comparably sized renovated Capes not far from here in Fairfield, Connecticut can be found at around $500,000. So once again, Stratford is providing some good value here. However, the public school system in Fairfield features a higher rated Elementary, Middle and High School compared to Stratford, according to Great Schools rating system. The balance between space, affordability and school system quality is certainly a difficult decision to make when home shopping in Fairfield County Connecticut towns.

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Information posted is merely the opinion of Time or Space for entertainment purposes only. All information published can be found in Town Records which is made available to the Public.

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886 Riverton Terrace, Stratford, CT 06614

This prewar 1936 colonial was listed just five days ago for an incredible asking price in today’s market. For some reason the seller appeared to grossly underprice the home, at an amazing ask of $244,900. Perhaps this was a brilliant strategy to create a lot of interest and spark a bidding war. This three bedroom, one bathroom home of 1,534 square feet is on an oversized lot of 0.26 acres. Whats more remarkable is this home is on a dead end street at the very north end of Paradise Green just below the Mill River Country Club.

This home looks to be in relatively good condition for the price, with various updates already made. This dead end street is one of the best streets in Paradise Green. The dead end would almost guarantee a very livable and safe street for a family with children. Its also a very quiet street due to being a dead end, where most streets in the neighborhood have a medium amount noise because of the through-traffic.

I heard there are at least 8 other offers on the house, maybe more. I am predicting that the house will likely sell for $30,000 over the asking price – around $274,900 is my guess. Even at this price, it looks like a great buy as it is very difficult to find a solid home in this price range on a dead end street in the neighborhood. It always comes down to the location. Two equivalent homes on different streets (different surroundings) cannot truly be considered comps. I will update this post to share what the sale price is once it becomes recorded in the public town records.

Since this is a larger than usual lot (double lot) the owners of this property over the years decided not to subdivide and sell the land for a new construction. Throughout Paradise Green, there are very few original lots of this size remaining, as most were split off and sold during the boom years of construction. Who can blame them? It must have been tempting to subdivide and sell off some land for a profit, and perhaps then sell your own home and move. Most lots in this neighborhood are half the size, non-conforming by today’s zoning standards, and are around 0.13 of an acre. This lot is still 0.26 of an acre, so there is a nice wide space between this home and the neighboring house to the right.

With that amount of space, I would relocate the driveway to the right side of the house and tear up the current one located on the left. I would then replant that left side with a lawn and add a wall of emerald green arbor vitae plantings for additional privacy as the neighboring house is close.

Stay tuned for new blog posts coming soon where I’ll share a few other rare original “double” lots that were never subdivided. There is one property on Reed Street and another around the corner from Reed on Meritine Ave with the original double lot size. These are cool to see because you can kind of imagine what the town used to look like before World War II, when the homes were more spaced out with larger yards and less population density.

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Information posted is merely the opinion of Time or Space for entertainment purposes only. All information published can be found in Town Records which is made available to the Public.