Four measured Connecticut towns remain below their 2006 peak

Same-house change follows houses that sold more than once, so a year with more large or newly built homes does not by itself push the measure higher. After inflation means adjusted with the consumer price index. Together, the two adjustments ask a narrower question than a headline sale price: how has comparable housing value changed in purchasing-power terms?

The recovery is uneven

Wilton stood 13.5% below its 2006 level. Ridgefield was 13.6% below, Stamford 13.9%, and Weston 19.2%. On the positive side, Greenwich was 2.8% above, Fairfield 3.3%, New Canaan 5.2%, Westport 12.4%, and Darien 16.4%.

The municipal comparison excludes North Stamford as a separate entry because it is already within Stamford. The Index includes postal areas as well as towns, and those overlapping rows should not be counted as independent municipalities. These figures describe the measured towns; they are not a countywide return or a claim about every Fairfield County market.

Recent gains and an old peak can coexist

Wilton’s 2025 median sale—the middle price of the year’s single-family sales—was $1.40M. Its median was up 73.8% from 2016, or 29.5% after inflation. Those gains can coexist with a same-house measure below 2006. The starting date and the measurement are different.

A buyer who starts with a post-downturn year sees one recovery. An owner who starts with the prior peak sees another. Neither comparison should silently replace the other. The same applies to a house that was expanded or extensively rebuilt: its individual sale history needs a property-level explanation alongside the area series.

What this says about a purchase

The result gives context to today’s asking prices. It does not identify which town will appreciate fastest next, establish that a below-peak market is undervalued, or measure an owner’s total investment return. Acquisition costs, financing, maintenance, improvements and selling expenses are outside this price comparison.

For an individual house, compare the site, usable floor area, condition and recent recorded sales. Then use the long-term series to understand the market in which that comparison sits. A town label cannot price a renovation or settle the value of a particular waterfront, rail-access or acreage position.

The Connecticut Index keeps the three questions separate: the year’s sale-price level, repeat-sale movement, and the effect of inflation. Where the sample is insufficient, the figure stays withheld. An empty cell is not evidence of a flat market.

Source: Connecticut’s recorded sales and town assessor records; analysis by The Roebling Team at Compass.