dpIn the past, a good rule of thumb in Connecticut was that the price of houses rose and fell in cycles.
But six years ago — when the pandemic started — that general trend stopped being as reliable. Ever since then, home prices in Connecticut have raced upward in a mostly straight line.
By 2026, the median price of starter homes in Connecticut had doubled to more than $300,000 over a decade.
The real estate company Redfin defines “starter homes” as the bottom third of properties in terms of price. In other words, this category is based on the sale of all houses, not only purchases made by first-time homeowners.
Another definition of starter homes is properties under 1,500 square feet, said Kayla Giordano, a senior manager at Partnership for Strong Communities, a housing advocacy group. The state’s stock of smaller homes is low, according to Giordano, because most properties built after the Great Recession have been larger than that benchmark size.
That might be part of the reason why the median price of starter homes in Connecticut is $40,000 higher than the national value.
Another contributing factor is regional differences, with prices on the East and West coasts soaring above those in the middle of the country.
If it’s of any interest to aspiring homeowners, the state with the lowest prices is Ohio. In the Midwest state, the median cost of starter homes is $160,000 — about half as expensive as in Connecticut.
Perhaps the new rule of thumb should be: It’s cheaper in Ohio.
