06/14/11 Greenwich Real Estate with Scott Elwell - May 2011 - GreenwichCT.com

As we enter the summer months, the spring market numbers are starting to show. The 2011 spring real estate market in Greenwich was fairly impressive. From a realtor’s perspective (without looking at the numbers) houses that were well priced moved fast. This is still the case today. I can’t say that inventory has dropped, since it hasn’t, but I can say that well priced homes are attracting a ton of interest and move extremely quickly. Over the past month I can think of at least 10 houses that went into contract within a week of hitting the market. In May we had 55 sales, which is nearly 40% higher than May 2010. If my calculations are right, come June and July we will see an even higher change over last year. You see, these sales numbers lag about 45 to 60 days from the activity in the market since it takes that long to close a house. I’ve been looking for good numbers showing houses going into contract, but can’t find any. The Greenwich MLS changed categories to now include houses that are in executed contracts, contingent contracts and have accepted offers, but continue to show. Due to all of these categories, the numbers showing houses now in contract are all over the place. One area that we haven’t spent much time talking about in the past few months is the Sales to List Price Ratio. This number represents where a house trades in respect to its asking price. If you are looking at a large group of houses (say a couple hundred) I think this can be a fairly telling data point. That being said, for small groups of sales, this number can be fairly deceiving as one sale can have a fairly significant affect. With that thought I am going to ignore the ratio numbers in the one-month comparison, but focus on the numbers in the year to date comparison. As you can see we have dropped from a 92.3% sales to list price last year to 91.2%. This one percent drop can mean a lot of things. It could mean that people are now willing to take less for their house, or that they are in fact pricing the houses higher and taking the same amount. All in all, a 1.2% variance is not that significant and should not warrant much concern. I like talking about this number since it can be read so many different ways. Residential real estate is not an exact science and just like macroeconomics people with fairly different opinions can all be right. It is my belief that the sellers market is starting to come around to seeing what their houses are really worth. In addition, they realize that the spring market (especially in a family neighborhood where the school year is so important) may be the hottest time to sell their house for a little while. This has nothing to do with the market getting worse or better it just has to do with the cyclical nature of real estate in Greenwich. If you are selling a family home, chances are that family will want to be moving during a time when school is not in session. As usual, I’m here if anyone wants to talk more about the market. I’m always looking for more clients and appreciate referrals immensely. Sincerely, Scott Scott P. Elwell Founder/Real Estate Agent - GreenwichCT.com Al Filippone Associates @ William Raveis 45 Field Point Road, Greenwich, CT 06830 Cell: 203.940.0444 scott@elwell.com MY LISTINGS follow on Twitter | friend on Facebook | forward to a friend

06/14/11 The Greenwich First Selectman Report

News About Greenwich First Selectman Peter Tesei

CL&P says it will speed up work after widespread outages Greenwich Time First Selectman Peter Tesei said while it is likely the town will still face power issues later this summer, he felt CL&P was taking the right steps to ...

CL&P Wants to Build New Substation To Meet Power Demands Patch.com Late Friday following a meeting with utility officials and as reports filtered in that the outages were growing, First Selectman Peter Tesei said, ...

A Recently Updated Web Page About Greenwich First Selectman Peter Tesei

safepipelines : Message: Gas company: Connecticut pipeline is safe First Selectman Peter Tesei said. "You can never do enough to prepare for the unexpected." Officials of Tennessee Gas told audience members that the company ... tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/safepipelines/message/18590

06/14/11 The Raw Greenwich VIDEO Feed

Videos About Greenwich Connecticut

At The Point in Greenwich, CT 3 min Recorded on June 5, 2011 using a Flip Video camera. youtube.com

Touch a truck Greenwich, CT. 2011 53 sec This video was uploaded from an Android phone. youtube.com

06/14/11 DEP: Slain Mountain Lion Was Held in Captivity and other stories from the Greenwich Topix News Message Board

Greenwich - News June 14, 2011 See Greenwich Weather DEP: Slain Mountain Lion Was Held in Captivity (Patch) The state Department of Environmental Protection's police unit is investigating whether a mountain lion killed on the Merritt Parkway in Milford over the weekend escaped from illegal captivity - despite the fact that the animal had no physical signs of being domesticated. PTA Honors Greenwich Mom for Volunteerism (The Daily Greenwich) Greenwich High School PTA leader Lauren Rabin has received a volunteerism award from the PTA. Greenwich Scores and Standings: June 14 (Patch) The Daily Sports Digest is designed for you to add your best photo and/or video to share i»¿. If you see anything in our scores, standings, or schedules that requires updating, please e-mail sports editor Bob Birge A atA bob.birge@hotmail.com The Connecticut High School Coaches Association All-Star baseball gamesA are for A Tuesday at Plainville ... Please send your comments, news tips and press releases to GreenwichRoundup@gmail.com Greenwich track brings home medals from New Englands (Fairfield Citizen-News) The Greenwich High School 4x400 Relay team placed 5th out of 36 teams at the NE Regional Championships in Burlington, VT on Saturday. "Devil Bird" Spotted In Hamden, Believed To Be First Sighting In Connecticut (WTIC-TV Hartford) An avid birder, she knew it was an anhinga, which is a name taken from a Brazilian tribe that means "devil bird." Fellow birder Nancy Specht was with McBride, and she confirmed the sighting. Five Things: Mountain Lion Found Dead in CT; Mat. Schoolhouse Rd.... (Patch) Mountain Lion Found Dead in Connecticut A If you've foilowed our coverage of recent mountain lion sightings in Matunuck , followed by DEM's reversal of its original position after a more thorough investigation , it may interest you that an unfortunate soul struck and killed a confirmed mountain lion in Greenwich, Connecticut with his car over the ... Two hurt in second I-95 accident (News Times) Two people were injured Monday morning when a commercial truck rolled from the northbound lane of Interstate 95 near Exit 16 across the median, according to fire officials. Agent Covers Bedford and Greenwich (The Daily Westport) Gloria Marwell, an agent with Prudential Douglas Elliman in Bedford and Prudential Connecticut in Greenwich. New mountain lion sightings being investigated by DEP in Greenwich (Connecticut Post) An investigation into two new sightings of a possible mountain lion in Greenwich will continue on Monday after town residents reported seeing a large cat in two different locations on Sunday. 'Extinct' cougar killed only 100 km from New York City (Canada) A dead mountain lion is seen in Milford, Conn., early June 11, 2011. The lion, which may have been the same big cat spotted in the posh New York City suburb of Greenwich, Conn., a week ago, was hit and killed early on Saturday morning on a highway in Milford.

06/14/11 CL&P Wants to Build New Substation To Meet Power Demands and more from Greenwich Patch

Today 64° 52° Tomorrow 80° 57° June 14, 2011 Your News CL&P Wants to Build New Substation To Meet Power Demands Barbara Heins | Jun 14, 2011 | 0 Comments Project years away but utility plans more immediate remedies in wake of last week's outages. Contemporary Art Gallery Gallops onto The Avenue with Its First Show This Week Meg Nolan van Reesema | Jun 14, 2011 | 0 Comments Featuring the lauded work of fine art photographer, Roberto Dutesco, the 6-week old Samuel Owen Gallery hosts its inaugural show on Thursday. Greenwich Scores and Standings: June 14 Bob Birge | Jun 14, 2011 | 0 Comments Your interactive, daily digest for all Greenwich varsity scores, schedules and standings — and a place for you to add information and images for all youth sports PatchCast: Greenwich Mountain Lion Investigation Continues, McDowell Faces New Drug Charges Cecelia Smith | Jun 13, 2011 | 0 Comments A roundup of the region's major developments for Monday, June 13. DEP: Slain Mountain Lion Was Held in Captivity Barbara Heins and Ronald DeRosa | Jun 13, 2011 | 0 Comments Officials believe only one wild cat has been stalking region. See more News » Opinion Whiz Kid Caroline 'Cat' Lazar Sue Rogers | Jun 14, 2011 | 0 Comments Passionate about theater and writing. Contemporary Art Gallery Gallops onto The Avenue with Its First Show This Week Meg Nolan van Reesema | Jun 14, 2011 | 0 Comments Featuring the lauded work of fine art photographer, Roberto Dutesco, the 6-week old Samuel Owen Gallery hosts its inaugural show on Thursday. See more Opinion »

06/14/11 New Today in The Daily Greenwich

What's Up in

The Daily Greenwich

McDowell Stays in Jail as Court Case Develops
by Nancy Chapman | 06/13/11
	Attorney Darnell Crosland says his client Tanya McDowell has made "bonehead mistakes," but he says she has been unfairly targeted for law enforcement scrutiny because of the high-profile nature of her case involving theft of an education. McDowell was arrested Friday on multiple drug charges by READ MORE

Tennis Supporters Swing for Cameroon Youth
by Tom Renner | 06/14/11
	Joseph Oyebog beamed as he showed a picture of a boy who started at his tennis academy in Cameroon and progressed to become a college player in the United States. Events such as Saturday's TennisFest 2011 at Intensity Tennis and Fitness in Norwalk help Oyebog's students reach their dreams. Proceeds READ MORE

Have You 'Friended' the Greenwich Mountain Lion?
by Anna Helhoski | 06/14/11
	A mountain lion is still out prowling — and not just on the streets of Greenwich. She (yes, she) is giving up-to-date accounts of her every move on Twitter, and she just might have more friends on Facebook than you do. Since joining the social networking world last week, the Greenwich READ MORE

Greenwich's Fairfield Road To Close for Repairs
by Anna Helhoski | 06/13/11
	A portion of Fairfield Road in Greenwich will be closed until Tuesday evening due to repair work by Connecticut Light & Power. The work is related to power reliability in the Greenwich area and was prompted by last week's wide-ranging outages. The road will be open and plated until 9 p.m. READ MORE

Himes Calls for Weiner To Step Down
by Anthony Buzzeo | 06/13/11
	The explicit photographs and text messages of Congressman Anthony Weiner (D-N.Y.) that have recently gone public are not just a distraction to the public, but also to the House of Representatives, Congressman Jim Himes (D-Conn.) said in a press release. He said Weiner should resign his House READ MORE

PTA Honors Greenwich Mom for Volunteerism
by Anna Helhoski | 06/13/11
	Greenwich High School PTA leader Lauren Rabin has received a volunteerism award from the PTA. Rabin is the current Greenwich High School PTA co-president. The PTA Council's Essence Award for Excellence in Volunteerism was presented to Rabin on May 31 at the council's annual dinner. It honors READ MORE

06/14/11 Delman's Pussy Footing Gets Slammed By The RTM

Despite Evan Delman's Plea To Postpone Police Contract, RTM Approves Contract And Three Other Union Contracts

Evan Delman of the RTM’s Town Services committee said his committee had intended to vote on the contracts, but “was informed that no action was the best action at this time, for reasons I won’t go into.” He then made the motion to postpone the vote on the police contract to September.

That led to outcry from numerous RTM members who felt that the body should proceed with the vote.

Jim Boutelle of District 8, who has been on the RTM for a number of years, said he believes all the parties involved in the contract negotiations “have done their work” carefully on the contracts, and urged his fellow RTM members to follow through with a vote.

“I think for us to postpone this to September, which is basically ducking a vote, is irresponsible on the part of this body,” Boutelle said. “I didn’t get elected to the RTM to dodge votes. I’ve heard RTM members joke during the budget season that the best approach to the budget process should be ‘we need more zeros’ or ‘oh no it’s good the way it is.’ Well, tonight’s your night to vote, one way or the other. If you want to send a message on the budget and you think the contracts are negotiated too high, then have the guts to say so.”

“I feel that when we have a reasonably negotiated contract between our town and our unions, we should vote on it, not duck it,” Boutelle added. “So vote on the four contracts — or in my opinion don’t run for re-election.”

Police Sgt. James Bonney, president of the Silver Shield Association, and also an RTM member from District 4, said the association made many concessions in the negotiations. “We wanted to show you we were willing to help,” he said. “Almost every point the town asked for, we gave on.” At the same time, though, the association wanted the town police department “to stay competitive with the other markets, so we get good officers here,” he said. “We don’t want to have the worst benefits in the area, because then we won’t get good cops. I feel that we gave enough to suit the town, and we gave enough to suit the association. I hope that you will approve this … ”

Joan Caldwell, RTM member District 10, said she was determined to vote, not postpone, because it was the right thing to do on behalf of her constituents.

“I came to the town meeting because I wanted to do something for my town,” she said. “That includes approving and disapproving contracts. I’ve never walked away from one and I’m not going to do that tonight.”

“What does rejecting or postponing this do for us?” she continued. “We have 14 items on the agenda tonight and we already postponed four. And now we’re talking about postponing four more. I don’t think that rejecting or postponing these contracts sends the message that some of us want to send … but for those of you who want to send that message, then let’s send it!”

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