In the United States, the housing market is still locked in a slump that began a year ago. In Connecticut, it’s more of a slowdown than a crash - and it may be pulling out of that downward curve.

Lisa Kidder, director of government relations for the Connecticut Home Builders Association, says the Connecticut housing market is showing signs of recovery.
“We’re still down overall,” she said. “But we’re seeing things aren’t as bad here as they are in the rest of the country. And within the state, there are goods pockets of activity.”

Likewise, Realtors said they think Connecticut mortgage activity will straighten out this summer, after being overheated for several years, then hitting the wall in 2006.

“Put a good price on it, and you should be able to sell your house,” said Karen Consalvo, Realtor with McCaffrey Realty Professionals of Brookfield.

“There was a hiss in the balloon, not a bursting,” said Betty Hensel, of Davis & Hoyt/Hensel Realtors in Brookfield.

“There’s still a good market for sellers who are realistic about it.”

Kidder said she’s buoyed by statistics for new home construction in April. They show 743 home builder permits issued in the state that month, compared to 484 in March.

More importantly, she said, more building permits were issued this April than in April 2006, when the number was 691 permits, indicating more housing starts.

“I know you can’t tell anything from one month,” she said. “But let’s see how things go this summer.”

Others don’t share Kidder’s optimism… or her good numbers.

In Danbury, Sean Hearty, director of the city’s Permit Center, said housing starts are down “substantially” in the face of rising home loan costs.

Hearty said there are two places in the city - The Reserve and Timber Oaks - where a burst of new housing units skews the numbers.

“But overall, it’s going down,” he said of new home construction in the city.

That’s because the housing boom of a few years ago put a lot of new houses and condominiums on the market as Connecticut home prices surged. Until they are sold, home builders are holding back on digging new foundations.

Kidder said that may be because during the last housing boom, in the late 1980s, many home builders overextended themselves only to get burned after the market cooled.

“This time, they learned their lesson,” she said.

Linda Hannah, president of the Ridgefield Board of Realtors and a Realtor with Century 21 Landmark Properties in Ridgefield, said agents are still dealing with a big inventory of homes on the market.

“We have 317 homes on the market - 24 of those have a bid accepted on them,” she said. “Normally, that number is 200 to 225.”

“There’s an oversupply,” said Realtor Matt Rose, of Century 21 Lombardi in Danbury.

But Hannah also said in the first quarter of 2006, 54 single-family homes were sold in Ridgefield. In the first quarter of 2007, that number was up to 67.

This may be because home mortgage loan applicants are unwilling or unable to pay, and sellers are no longer trying to get 2005 prices.

Hannah said in 2006 an average price for a single-family home in Ridgefield was about $934,000. In 2007, that price has dropped to about $855,000.

Hensel also said sellers - who a few years ago could market homes without having to worry about dust or crabgrass - have learned they have to prettify the place.

“You have to put on your best face,” she said.

“The house has to look perfect. There can’t be any clutter. The lawn has to be mowed, there have to be flowers on the front step. A couple of years ago, that didn’t matter.”

But Hannah said because mortgage interest rates are still relatively low by historical standards, buyers are starting to show up.

“I’m seeing good signs,” she said. “I’m hearing phones ring in the office.”

It’s not easy being Colorado’s housing market these days. The record number of foreclosures in the state, particularly in the Denver area, has given it a bad rap. And some say that foreclosure flap has even affected the sale of luxury homes in the hills above Denver and Boulder.

But Colorado’s housing market is more than just foreclosures. Yes, home sales for the generally middle class in Colorado are awash in such foreclosure problems right now, enough so in fact that the state Legislature is looking at ways to help, but other housing markets in the state are doing just fine.

Both the Denver Post and the Aspen Times report that home sales in Pitkin County, home of Aspen and Snowmass, were up 19 percent in 2006 to a total of $2.69 billion. The average price for a single-family home in Aspen hit $5.44 million in 2006, up more than $1 million from 2005. Buyers are generally wealthy and from out-of-state, and space for building is limited, say officials.

Also in Pitkin County, officials report that so-called “worker housing” or affordable housing sales hit $21.6 million in 2006, the highest it’s been in at least five years. Granted, it’s just a mere fraction of the “regular” housing market in Pitkin County, but this housing market is much different.

Worker or affordable housing is generally subsidized by state, federal or other funding sources, and doesn’t operate in the same kind of market. Prices are capped, appreciation is limited and the number of units for sale is based on how many openings there are in the system. Buyers have to apply and qualify, and units generally aren’t available as second homes or investment properties.

As written in the Aspen Times: “Four three-bedroom, two-bath units [at the Little Ajax housing project were] priced at $199,000, each attracted 40 prospective buyers who competed in lottery for a chance to buy one of the condos. Another nine three-bedroom, two-bathroom condos in the complex, priced at $293,000, each attracted 29 lottery
participants.”

Such a system helps those with limited incomes purchase a place of their own, but getting into one isn’t easy, given the limited supply and the numerous qualifications. But the lure of owning has pushed many people to sign mortgages that aren’t as friendly. And that’s where the foreclosure problem begins.

Democrats and Republicans in the Colorado Legislature are looking at bills to address the problem, and many are focusing on the culture of lending: Who is appraising homes and who is offering what kind of mortgages?

The articles say nothing of foreclosure or other botched financial obligations associated with the worker housing projects. So maybe another avenue for lawmakers is to find ways to add more worker housing projects, to lessen the demand for the mortgages that got so many people into trouble in the first place.