New London County had a good year for single-family home sales in 2017, with an 8.38 percent increase in the number of sales over 2016 and a 5.39 percent increase in median sale price.

Last year, 3,207 single-family homes were sold compared to 2,959 in 2016. The median single-family sale price in New London County was $223,950 in 2017 compared to $212,500 in 2016, and there was a 14.12 percent decrease in days on the market from 85 days in 2016 to 73 days in 2017. 

The Eastern Connecticut Association of Realtors recently released statistics for both New London and Windham counties, whose figures are broken down by sale and price, by type of property and by individual town.

Across both counties, the increase in number of units – single-family, condominium, mobile, residential land, multifamily and commercial – sold in 2017 was 5.35 percent. It was a particularly good year for condos, which saw 582 units sold in 2017 compared to 511 units in 2016.

ECAR CEO Susy Hurlbert cited several factors that may account for the increase in condo sales.

Condos are attractive to millennials who want to be near amenities, she said. They also require less maintenance, which is appealing to both millennials and retiring baby boomers.

And for first-time homebuyers, condos may be the market they can afford. The median sale price for condos in 2017 was $139,825.

Last year saw a decrease in mobile and commercial sales.

"The business climate is not confident," Hurlbert said. "The tax environment needs to be improved, to improve the confidence, and commercial is where you're going to see that lack of confidence."

For single-family homes in New London County, Lyme was the municipality with the highest median sale price, of $390,000, while Norwich had the lowest, of $133,500. Norwich had 385 single-family home sales last year, the most of the 21 cities and towns, while Franklin had the least with 18.

Groton saw the largest number of condo and mobile home sales, while Lebanon had the most residential land sales.

e.moser@theday.com