Moneymonerymoneymoney

list price:$1.689 million, sale price $2,351,008.

Bidding war frenzy and soaring prices hit Connecticut homes as NYC buyers flee amid fears of a Mamdani win

The first call came before breakfast. Then five more by noon. By the end of the day, Greenwich, Conn. real estate agent Joy Metalios had fielded so many inquiries from New York City families that she stopped counting. 

As Zohran Mamdani surges ahead in New York City’s mayoral race, city residents are racing to secure homes in the leafy, affluent enclaves of Connecticut and Westchester County — driven by anxieties over potential policy shifts that could reshape the local economic and social fabric. 

Real-estate brokers in these suburban markets report a frenzy reminiscent of the early pandemic exodus, with properties vanishing in days amid fierce competition and all-cash deals that push prices far beyond expectations. 

In Greenwich, long a city suburb for the well-heeled, available listings have dwindled to historic lows, hovering around 117 from more than 800 a few years earlier. It has fueled intense rivalries even for multimillion-dollar estates. 

Metalios, a veteran agent with Houlihan Lawrence recently navigated a sale at 10 Old Forge Road — a five-bedroom colonial on 2 acres with a sunlit kitchen and an expansive deck — that drew 10 offers after listing at $2.39 million in late July. It closed in September for $2.96 million, entirely in cash. 

A renovated five-bedroom at 156 Old Church Road, with a sauna, a bar and indoor-outdoor flow fetched $4.82 million in summer — more than double its 2016 price — in another all-cash contest. 

“We’ve been seeing bidding wars, and we’ve been seeing people come out of New York City,” Metalios told The Post, citing that trajectory of the New York City mayoral race as a concern. 

The pace has accelerated unusually for autumn, a season typically slowed by holidays and school calendars. Metalios’s team, which closed $227 million in volume last year across Fairfield County, has already surpassed $260 million in pending and completed transactions through the third quarter. 

“I haven’t had a day off in a while,” she said. 

On the other hand, the rats staying aboard are hoping to feed on the carcasses

Keyan Sanai, a Douglas Elliman broker in Manhattan, described one prospective purchaser who demanded a price cut dubbed the “Mamdani discount,” warning that values would plummet post-election, before halting the hunt altogether.

“One told me, ‘If I buy now and this guy gets elected, it’s going to be a raw deal,’” Sanai said. “Everyone’s either holding off or saying, ‘Let’s be out by Jan. 1, even if we sell at a loss.’”

FWIW: And there’s also this, something I’ve been telling clients for years and years: it’s plate tectonics: for so long as NYC attracts bright, successful young people (well, successful) from the country and the world, they’ll meet, fall in love, have babies, outgrow their co-op and look to the suburbs for more space, better schools (sometimes) and a lawn. My own parents followed that path in 1954, and others before them did the same thing, including my father’s parents in 1900. The caveat here is that if New York City stops drawing such people, the pipeline will go dry.

NYC Agents emphasize that while election jitters amplify long standing grievances over crime and costs, the suburbs’ allure — lower taxes, yards and perceived security — predates the campaign. 

And then there’s the second home push: also a phenomenon with a long history — Romans built summer villas to escape the heat, Englishmen built 40-bedroom country cottages, onky returning to London for the Season — but powered today by an ocean of new cash. Two examples:

The Hamptons Luxury Housing Market Is Staging a Comeback for the Ages

The East End’s unprecedented revival is being fueled by a wave of home sales priced above $10 million

In the Hamptons, New York’s affluent beach-vacation destination, the luxury real-estate market has come roaring back.

The number of homes sales above $10 million on Long Island’s East End has surged to unprecedented levels, even topping the area’s pandemic boom. The uptick comes even as Florida and other locales have replaced New York City as a primary home for many billionaires.

“The Hamptons is, for lack of a better term, kicking ass at the very high end of the market,” said real estate appraiser Jonathan Miller of Miller Samuel.

The Numbers

The high-end Hamptons market was in the doldrums before Covid. Home sales of $10 million or more plummeted from 58 in 2015 to 30 in 2019, as the ritzy area faced increased competition from areas such as Nantucket and the Hudson Valley. Along with many other rural vacation destinations, the area rebounded during the pandemic home-buying spree, but was floundering again by 2023 due to high interest rates and a scarcity of listings, real-estate agents said.

Since then, however, the luxury market has rebounded. As of early October, the region had notched 74 home sales and was projected to see at least 94 by the end of the year—the highest since Miller started tracking the market more than two decades ago. Even 2021’s Covid-era buying frenzy produced only 54 such deals.

The Drivers

Several factors are fueling the comeback. Lower interest rates have brought buyers off the sidelines, said real-estate agent Kyle Rosko of Douglas Elliman. While most home buyers in this price range don’t rely on mortgages, their fortunes are often tied to businesses that are sensitive to rates, he noted.

Miller also pointed to strength on Wall Street. Firms from Morgan Stanley to Bank of America have reported surging revenue from trading and investment banking, driving industrywide profits, according to New York state data. Compensation expenses also jumped roughly 10% in the first half of this year, signaling fatter bonus pools and renewed optimism across trading floors.

One reason the Hamptons market slowed after the pandemic surge is that a number of wealthy New Yorkers—traditionally the core demographic of Hamptons homeowners—moved to Florida amid the rise of remote work. While Miami and Palm Beach, Fla., are now considered primary home markets for many billionaires, the Hamptons remains primarily a vacation-home market, said Rosko. That means Hamptons buyers are more likely to take their time looking for just the right house. “It’s a nonnecessity luxury asset,” Rosko said.

And it’s happening even down east. Driven by Massholes and New Yorkers, sadly. “Sad”, because they’re bringing their politics and squishy thinking with them, with the predictable results.

Monument Square Campground, portland maine

The rise of the multimillion-dollar condo in Portland

Real estate in Maine’s largest city has become increasingly more expensive in recent years, partially due to a rise in luxury homes in Portland’s downtown. 

Online property listening websites show a smattering of multimillion-dollar condos in the heart of Portland, many of which were built or renovated within the last few years. Some high-end developments hit the market but haven’t been completed yet. 

Aside from changing the landscape of downtown Portland, a rise in luxury homes signals a shift in the demographics of those who want or need to live in the heart of the city. It also points to how home values in the area have jumped in recent years. 

Median home prices in Portland have risen from nearly $336,000 in September 2019 to more than $559,000 last month, according to Zillow. 

Despite the high price tag, condos of this caliber are being snatched up by many different types of buyers, such as retirees who are looking to downsize but stay close to family and the amenities downtown Portland has to offer, said John Hatcher, CEO of the Hatcher Group Keller Williams Realty, based in Portland.

In some cases, buyers choose a downtown condo to use as a seasonal property, as they don’t have to worry about maintaining it while they spend their winters somewhere warmer, Hatcher said.

“You lock the door and leave,” Hatcher said. 

Luxury condos also appeal to out-of-state buyers, especially those from larger cities where mutli-million asking prices are more commonplace, said Harry McMann, a sales associate for the Flaherty Group in Westbrook. 

“If you’re coming from Boston or New York, $1 or $2 million is going to get you a lot more in Portland than what it’d buy in those bigger cities,” McMann said. 

While Portland has gained attention — and new residents — because of its culinary offerings and other benefits, Hatcher said most people buying high-end real estate have some other tie to the state. 

For example, someone may buy in Portland to be closer to their children who settled in Maine after attending college locally. Others may have grown up in other parts of the state and moved to Portland in their adulthood. 

Regardless of who buys the recent swell of luxury units, there’s little indication that development will slow or prices will drop in Northern New England, including Portland, McMann said. That’s because there’s still demand for this type of housing from people who can afford it. 

“There’s more money around post-Covid — people are making more money and there are more high-paying jobs here, which is driving a lot of it,” McMann said. “Portland has been put on the map over the last 10 to 15 years, and that drives real estate prices. A lot has changed in this town.” 

Here’s an example: Portland’s newly-arrived rich liberals teamed up with the city’s college students and “artists” to impose a draconian rent control law, one that pretty much prevents evictions and limits rent increases, even for maintenance expenses and improvements, to something like 2.5%. The result, of course, is that young couples can no longer buy the existing two-family homes that comprised the bulk of houses on the city’s Munjoy Hill and East End and live in one while renovating and renting out the other. So those houses are being razed and replaced by luxury condos. Who’d have thunk?

246 Eastern Promenade, $3 million

This two-bedroom, three-bathroom condo on Portland’s Eastern Promenade is part of a 13-unit building that’s slated to be finished next fall.

With an asking price of nearly $3 million, the unit offers slightly more than 2,100 square feet complete with a private deck, large windows, custom kitchen and bathroom cabinets and high ceilings.

In addition to access to a parking garage, the building offers residents access to a private, climate-controlled storage area.

The development’s location is close to coastal walking trails and dozens of cafes, shops, bars and restaurants scattered throughout Munjoy Hill and the East End.

And down on what was once the working waterfront:

387 Commercial St., $2.9 million

This two-bedroom, three-bathroom condo offers nearly 1,700 square feet of living space for an asking price of $2.9 million.

The unit’s other amenities include a gas fireplace, hardwood floors, water views, a private deck, and high-end appliances and fixtures, including a wine refrigerator.

One spot in the building’s parking garage is included with the unit, and a second one can be bought for $35,000.

The building, called Hobson’s Landing, was built in 2024 and sits across the street from Becky’s Diner, one of Portland’s longtime eateries. Residents can find a fitness room, dog wash, clubroom, a shared workspace, among other benefits.

Residents are within walking distance of Portland’s Old Port, which holds some of the city’s most well known restaurants, bars, shops, galleries and more.

Better a city flourish than decay, of course, and not very long ago Portland was dying — commercial vacancy rate in 2000 was 67%, for instance — but the imported liberal policies of these people will probably ensure that happy rejuvenation won’t last.