As Wall Street ails so does most of Connecticut. The Connecticut housing market is reeling from the impact of the credit crisis as home values come tumbling down. The state synonymous with the riches of Wall Street is facing financial hardship and has businesses closing their doors in unprecedented numbers.
Greenwich has been home to more hedge funds than any where else in the country, and now as investors pull their money out of the stock market, fearing a worsening economy the city that has seen so much growth and wealth from Wall Street is hurting.
According to Hedge Fund Intelligence, Greenwich was home to 35 hedge funds that managed more than $200 billion of assets, larger than the annual GDP of nations like Chile or Malaysia.
The titans of Wall Street have made Greenwich their home just 30 miles from New York City, and as the investment pools of hedge funds grew so did the community with mansions and billionaires.
 |
| City |
Forecast |
| Bridgeport |
− 13.9% |
| Greenwich |
− 12.8% |
| Stamford |
− 12.5% |
| New Haven |
− 8.2% |
| Hartford |
− 11.4% |
Now with declining home values many homes in this small community of only 62,000 residents are worth less than what they were purchased for and prices are forecast to fall further in 2009. Housing Predictor forecasts Greenwich average home prices will deflate 13.9% by year's end.
In Bridgeport home sales are well off the rapid pace of past years, pulling the market further off course and sending home values downward. The pace of home sales is not projected to increase in Bridgeport for at least another year, and home values are forecast to drop another 12.8% in 2009.
Few foresee tumbling rental rates in Greater Hartford that characterized the two previous recessions yet. But as business slows further in 2009 and foreclosures increase the collapse of the housing market will worsen, according to Housing Predictor analysts, who forecast average housing deflation of 11.4% for the year in Hartford.
In the state capital of Hartford foreclosures are worsening and the growing epidemic will slow development in the city further through at least 2011. The collapse of the housing market is hurting Hartford and Connecticut all over.
It was believed that Connecticut's aerospace and insurance industries would help to aid the ailing economy, but with the rapid decline done by the stock market to the local economy there isn't much hope for Connecticut's economy to return for a number of years.
In New Haven the market is slow and prices are forecast to decline further, but not as much as the rest of the state since its home to Yale University, which produces a strong rental market. New Haven is forecast to deflate 8.2% in 2009.
The economy is also hurting in Stamford, which is home to many of the world's largest corporations. The excessive inventory of homes for sale on the market and hard to find financing has depressed the housing market in Stamford and will stagnate it through most of the year, sending home values down another 12.5% in 2009 on the average home.
