Hartford County’s hot housing market in 2020 was spread throughout the region with few exceptions, as the pandemic forced many to work at home and urban dwellers in New York City and elsewhere sought homes in less crowded places.

An analysis by The Courant of data provided by SmartMLS, Connecticut’s statewide multiple listing service, shows that two-thirds of the county’s 29 towns and cities had double-digit percentage gains in single-family home sales compared with 2019. All but five saw some increase, with only one town, Windsor Locks, experiencing a double-digit decline.
The top 10 municipalities, led by Burlington with nearly a 50% increase in sales, all had few single-family houses on the market. Buyers were forced to pounce and, in most cases, paid at or near the asking price, sometimes more.

Across Hartford County, sales of single-family houses in 2020 rose 14.3% compared with a year earlier, SmartMLS data shows. The median sale price — where half the sales are above, half below — rose 10.5% to $257,000, according to SmartMLS.

1. Burlington

2. Marlborough

3. East Windsor

4. Farmington

5. Granby

6. Bristol

7. Newington

8. East Granby

9. Simsbury

10. Bloomfield

Written By For The HARTFORD COURANT and Online At Courant.com