News

‘Fairly Strong Right Now’: Single-Family Home Sales Up 76% Year-over-Year in May

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New Canaan saw 30 single-family homes sold in May, a 76 percent year-over-year increase for the month, according to new data. The increased sales hit nearly every price range, and a sale in the $5 million-plus category pushed up the year-to-date median sold price up slightly, though the figure is still down from last year—a reflection of “more realistic seller expectations,” according to Joe Scozzafava, president of the New Canaan Board of Realtors, the organization that supplied the data. Those expectations are “helping to drive increased sales,” Scozzafava said in an email. “This increase was consistent across most of lower Fairfield County. Inventory levels are down from last year which is also a positive sign that the real estate market is fairly strong right now.”

Here’s a snapshot of single-family home sales in May:

 

Overall, the year-to-date median sale price for single-family homes in New Canaan stands at $1,423,000—a 16 percent drop from 2016.

Around Town

Did You Hear … ?

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Studio Elan, an established business on Burtis Avenue, is moving into the former Candy Scoop space on Elm Street, up the alley by Chef Luis and next to New Canaan Music. ***

New Canaan Public Schools cafeterias recently earned the No. 1 “Best Food Ranking” from Niche.com. Here’s a peek at the top-10 (Darien is No. 23—nanny nanny boo boo):

New Canaan
Middlefield
Weston
Westport
Wilton
Chester
Killingly
Waterford
Simsbury
Glastonbury

***

Police responded to a call at 1:28 p.m. last Saturday that a dog near Forest Street and Locust Avenue was “going crazy in a car.” The dog’s owner, who was inside the nearby New Canaan Diner, paid her bill and left the restaurant to take care of the barking animal.

Business

Here are 28 Current New Canaan Chamber Member Businesses That Also Belonged in Back in ’82

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Here’s a short list of sweeping economic crises that have affected, directly or indirectly, every U.S. business since 1982: Black Monday, savings and loan crisis, subprime mortgage crisis and Great Recession. Locally, success in business involves nimbleness and acumen, and far more than that—interpersonal skills, involvement, diligence and imagination. Recently, the head of an organization that’s central for many local businesses, the New Canaan Chamber of Commerce, came by chance across a list of 28 current members that also were members back in 1982. “They’ve supported the chamber, supported the town and been here for a long, long time,” Executive Director Tucker Murphy said. “We want to congratulate them on that.”

Here’s the list, in alphabetical order (not every single business has been a continuous member of the chamber, though many—including Bob’s Sports, Karl Chevrolet, Walter Stewart’s and Stewart’s Spirits—have been):

Ann Taylor
Baskin Robbins
Bob’s Sports
Brotherhood & Higley
Congregational Church
Family Britches
Franco’s Wine
Healthfare
Hersam Acorn- New Canaan Advertiser
Hoyt Funeral Home
Hutchinson Tree Company

Karl Chevrolet
League of Women Voters
Merrill Lynch
New Canaan Board of Realtors
New Canaan Community Nursery School
New Canaan Country School
New Canaan Library
New Canaan Nature Center
Pennyweights
Roger Sherman Inn
Silvermine Arts Guild
Stewart’s Spirits
Taylor’s Luggage
Visiting Nurse Association of New Canaan
Walter Stewart’s
Waveny Care Center
Whitney Shop

Ties to the local chamber run very deep for businesses such as Walter Stewart’s, recently recognized as Business of the Year.