Chairman's View: Cap Town Spending for Three Years (Mar. 28, 2019)

Chairman’s View: Cap town spending for three years

MARCH 28, 2019 BY JOHN ENGEL, CHAIRMAN, TOWN COUNCIL

Town income is dependent on real estate values and the taxes they generate. Our revenues currently grow at 1% per year.

I propose that we cap spending at 1.50% per year for three years, beginning now. We must limit our spending growth more closely to our revenue growth. The town budget is growing 1.43% while the school budget grew 1.85% ($1.4 million). My proposal means cutting $340,000 from a $91 million Board of Education budget. This is not a criticism of the school budget or their priorities. It is simply the recognition that 2.8% average annual growth we’ve seen for the last 10 years is unsustainable.

The reputation of top-performing schools causes school-age families to move in. The No. 1 reason people move out is affordability. That is particularly true of our empty-nesters and seniors whose taxes developed the school system that we all currently enjoy. It’s the responsibility of the Town Council to make sure we maintain that balance between excellent schools and long-term affordability. We cannot ignore the effects SALT deductibility, revaluation, and pressures from Hartford have had on property values. We must cut spending growth in all budgeted areas to a level New Canaan can sustain.

New Canaan currently plans capital spending of $17 million, $18 million and $18 million in the next three years while retiring only $11.5 million to $12.4 million of debt per year. Those figures don’t meet the needs of our Police Department or library, but they do include a $500,000 fire rescue truck, $210,000 ambulance, $550,000 school planetarium, $6 million Waveny restoration, $200,000 Irwin House restoration, $250,000 Nature Center restoration and $3.2 million in the selectmen’s budget to buy land for new parking lots. We must get serious about re-prioritizing our capital needs within the $13 million cap. Doing so will result in debt service savings of $282,529, $426,047 and $842,239 in the next three years and is necessary if we are to decrease debt service toward the 10% guideline set by the Board of Finance in the fall of 2018. If we don’t limit new capital spending below $13 million, then we will never reach the 10% target.

Two years ago, New Canaan and Darien both claimed mill rates in the 16s. This year, Darien has a mill rate of 16.08 while New Canaan’s will grow from 16.96 to 18.11 and possibly exceed 19 in two years. We need the mill rate to return to levels near that of Darien and Westport, our closest rivals. I am confident that with proper planning we can do this while maintaining school excellence and the current level of services. And, as a Realtor, I am confident that real estate prices will recover and when they do we will be able ease the caps.

John Engel is chairman of the Town Council. The views expressed in this column are those of the chairman, not necessarily the entire council.

Halstead’s Engel is year’s ‘Realtor Citizen’ for service to Town (Dec. 26, 2018)

Halstead’s Engel is year’s ‘Realtor Citizen’ for service to Town

DECEMBER 26, 2018 BY NEW CANAAN ADVERTISER

John Engel is this year’s ‘Realtor Citizen’ for his service to the Town of New Canaan. The New Canaan Board of Realtors’ Realtor Citizen of the Year is John Engel, center, with with board President Janis Hennessy, left, and realtor Jeanne Rozel.

John Engel has been selected Realtor Citizen of the Year for 2018 by the New Canaan Board of Realtors. The award is given to a New Canaan Realtor who exemplifies the qualities of professionalism, ethics, and willingness to devote time and energy to the real estate community and to the community at large, according to the New Canaan Board. 

“Halstead is proud to have John Engel on its team of professionals, and his service to our community is just exceptional,” said Sharon Daley, Executive Director of Sales for Halstead New Canaan, according to the announcement. 

Engel is an award-winning agent with Halstead, where he is part of the Engel Team that includes his mother Susan, a previous winner of New Canaan’s Realtor Citizen of the Year award. 

He has been a member of the New Canaan Town Council since 2011 and was elected chairman of the Council in 2017. He has been a board member of the New Canaan Land Trust since 2013, is a board member of Staying Put in New Canaan and an advisory board member for the New Canaan Historical Society. He is also a long-time member and past president of the New Canaan Rotary Club, was a board member for the New Canaan Outback Teen Center, and was on the New Canaan Zoning Board of Appeals from 2007 to 2011.

Engel who lives in New Canaan with his wife and four children, was a captain in the U.S. Army and served in the Persian Gulf War. He is a member of the New Canaan Veterans of Foreign Wars, Post 653.

Realtor Jeanne Rozel, a past president of the New Canaan Board of Realtors said in the release, “I worked with him on the board of appeals and I know what he has done for the town, so I’m glad that he’s being recognized for all he does for people.”

The New Canaan 2018 Revalution: An Interactive Map of Old and New Property Assessments

Click on any dot to see the revaluation information on that property.
Red dots are properties where the assessment went down.
Green dots are where the assessment went up.
Bigger pins are properties where the assessment changed by more than $1 million.



Credit: Bob Naughton

Contact your realtor to discuss how the revaluation affects you.

Click here to download the excel spreadsheet of valuations on the town website.

Call or text me, John Engel at 203 247 4700, to discuss home values or Susan Engel at 203 247 5999

Chairman’s View: Expect a High-Density Development on Pine Street, column for July 12, 2018

Chairman’s View: Expect a high-density development on Pine Street

JULY 12, 2018 BY JOHN ENGEL

By John Engel

Town Council Chairman

The Beval Saddlery building at 50 Pine Street and two adjacent brick buildings may have been sold to a developer.

My purpose is not to report on a rumor. But, if it has not sold then it will likely sell in the not-too-distant future. Don’t be surprised. It is logical to expect the eventual buyers to propose another high-density development in this location. 

There will be hand-wringing about the changing character of our town. What is the best use for Pine Street? Some say New Canaan’s “Magic Circle” loses its magic every time it is diluted by the addition of storefronts on Pine, Grove, Cross and Vitti streets. Others say we must evolve, and new, dense development is consistent with the POCD (Plan of Conservation and Development) and adds to the tax base in a way that makes New Canaan a more complete shopping and dining destination.

Both are correct. I would suggest that we talk about what healthy change looks like in our downtown instead of simply opposing whatever represents change. It is good to remember that we are unlikely to solve any perceived current issues (not enough variety in housing stock, not enough senior-friendly housing, too many retail vacancies, etc.) unless we are willing to consider changing what we currently permit.

Two residents, each in town for at least three generations, stopped me last week with diametrically opposed opinions on whether the Merritt Village project is good for New Canaan. 110 condominiums in 4 buildings on 3.5 acres. One of them cited its consistency with our POCD’s intention to encourage senior-friendly housing within walking distance of train and town.  The other said it was too dense, too ugly, and not in keeping with the character of our town.

The three Pine Street lots represent nearly two acres in the BUS-A zone. Our assessor appraises them for nearly $12 million, currently $140,576 in property taxes. Therefore, there is a good chance that we will see a proposal for development that spans all three lots, is built to the height limit of 40 feet, possibly with parking underneath to maximize building size and make use of the slope. While this should clearly raise the taxable value of the property, do we want more dense housing, possibly senior or workforce housing, maybe mixed-use with retail on the bottom at that location? 

One difference: we won’t see the 8-30g threat as a retaliatory tactic by developers who don’t get their way with Planning and Zoning. New Canaan has been working on a multi-phase plan that already exempts us from the 8-30g threat for the next three years and will hopefully lead to up to eight additional years.

50, 58 and 70 Pine have style. They do not loom. They are set back from the road with green space in front. The parking is hidden. The old bricks are warm with character. 

Almost anything new is better than a vacant building, but, please, let’s actively try to encourage the most benefit for the Town as a whole from these unique buildings.

The May Market Report - Sales are Up, Even With Last Year, But Pendings are Starting to Slow

34 Urban Street  $739,000 new listing, 3 rental units, wow!  Orchard Hills Condo  $754,000 new listing, under $1mm Pride's Crossing #9  $888,000 walk to town, under $1mm 29 Maple Street condo  $799,000 high-style, new wow price    108 Toby's Lane $1.350    private riverfront retreat   151 East Avenue $1.368   new listing, top-flight condo 285 Havilland Rd $1.389 new listing, gone, already sold it!  289 New Norwalk Rd   $1.68   the best condo at Canaan Close 16 Ravenglass Dr.   $1.649 privacy, a gated community 76 Sturbridge Hill Rd $1.599 2 acres, 5 beds, pool, new price Eliot Noyes  and Bob Graff,  two of the greatest industrial designers. The Noyes-Graff House   $1.78 106 Logan Road   $1.799 great value, pristine   1094 Ponus Ridge $2.08 reduced 20%, wow price!!! The Willis Mills House, 1956 gone, two offers. rented it!! (another modern coming on this week, email for pictures) 242 Wahackme Rd.   $3.40 shingle style and great pool 227 Lambert Road  $4.780 a romantic estate, new price! 31 Deacon's Way $3.888 superb, new listing this week! tour the party barn on Lambert 1271 Oenoke Rdg.   rental $4000   tour this lakeside colonial 309 Park Street $8000 gone, rented both long-term 477 Main Street $7000  gone, rented both long-term video tour by Susan Engel

Friends, How's the market? Everybody is asking. First, some data. 20 houses were sold in April, up from 15 and the most in April since 2007. It allowed us to catch up to where we were last year. Its been a late Spring market. After 4 months we have 51 sales versus 49. We are not in a recession. This is solid sales volume.  The average sale price decreased 14% since this time last year, down from $2.228 million to $1.908 million. This is a result of more sales at the low end of the market.  We have had zero sales over $4 million this year. Zero. That part of the market is struggling. Last year we posted 3 super-sales in the first 4 months. Sales at $11 .7 million and $5.1 million were attributed to large sub-dividable lots while the $4.2 million sale was a beautiful newer home on 4 acres. Instead, this year we've seen 7 sales between $3.0 and $3.75 million, up from 2 at this time last year. New Canaan single family home inventory has increased 37% from 260 to 332. As of the writing of this market report two weeks later that total has climbed to 347. We had predicted a June peak of 370 in our February Market Report and we stand by the prediction because pending sales are down 41% from where they were last year year. Instead of looking forward to 61 sales in the next two months we are on track to sell only 36. Let's break it down... Fairfield County Sales: The number of sales is up 10% across the county with four out of six town posting big gains. Wilton is flat for the year with 43 sales and New Canaan is only up 4.1%. Prices are flat everywhere with no town posting a change of more than 5.6%.  Fairfield County Inventory is up only 4.6% with the only large gains being posted in New Canaan (+21%) and Wilton (13%) While a 4.6% increase does not sound alarming, it is an 8.6% increase in inventory over 2 years which translates to nearly 500 houses. Expect this increase in inventory to have a lagging effect. New Canaan Pending Sales: is our best forward-looking indicator. Looking at the first quarter we saw a 21% decrease in Pending Sales from 43 to 34. That number should be rising to 61. Looking only at the month of April we saw a 37% decline in Pendings which brought us to a four month decline of 41%. This is concerning and something to watch.  Below is a link to the New Canaan May Market Report. If you would like to discuss the report, or if you have any other questions, feel free to contact us at 203-247-4700 (JE) or 203-247-5999 (SE).   Best regards,           John and Susan The inventory is spread across all segments of the market, geographically distributed across all prices, in every style. 20 sales this month, and 51 for the year.  Better than 2015 We will see sales volume peaking at normal levels of $60-$70 million per month in June and July again. Is it surprising that we see normal levels: 120-300? Five years ago we ranged from 141 to 289 days. The absorption rate shows normal house sales rates (243 per year) but an excessive number of listings. Five years ago the graph peaked twice at 15 months. Around 94% is normal. The divergence indicates a buyer's market where seller's are chasing offers. Susan admires the wallpaper at the Noyes-Graff House

The April Market Report: We Can't Blame the Winter Weather for the Slow Start

https://www.halstead.com/sale/ct/new-canaan/1094-ponus-ridge/house/99099374# Pride's Crossing #9  $888,000 1 of 8 condos under $1mm 29 Maple Street condo  $899,000 as featured in the NYTimes  108 Toby's Lane $1.325    private riverfront retreat 213 Old Stamford Rd $1.499 near South School & Waveny  289 New Norwalk Rd   $1.68   the finest at Canaan Close 16 Ravenglass Dr.   $1.649 privacy, a gated community 76 Sturbridge Hill Rd $1.725 great value with pool  106 Logan Road   $1.799 great value, pristine  1094 Ponus Ridge $2.22 open house this weekend 1380 Ponus Ridge   $2.55 spacious, restored, bright 242 Wahackme Rd.   $3.40 shingle style Nantucket  227 Lambert Road    $5.15 a romantic country estate 1654 Ponus Rdg. rental $5900 tour the party barn on Lambert 1271 Oenoke Rdg.   rental $4000 tour this lakeside colonial  tour the Evans House of 1960 video tour by Susan Engel Friends, Several data points jump out at us this month:  First, every body is talking about the ever-increasing inventory levels. New Canaan began March with 270 houses on the market versus 192 at this time last year, up 40.6%.  We begin April with 299 houses versus 222 a year ago, still up 34.7% New Canaan Active Listings and Sales over Two Years Analyzing the last 25 houses listed, we saw 16 of them last year and 9 of them are new to the market. That leads us to think we are going to burst through last year's June 15 peak of 329 and could see as many as 370.  Those houses that came back on the market this year returned with price decreases that averaged 5.25% Here is the graph for Darien over the last 24 months. With only half the inventory they are selling the same volume and the same median price. And, they sell a lot faster. Darien Active Listings and Sales over Two Years Let's break it down... Fairfield County Sales: Once again its a mixed bag across the county. Sales are up 5% and dollar volume is up 5% as a whole with Darien and Stamford showing the most strength. Wilton continues to be soft with the average home ($925k) selling for 50% of that of Darien ($1.95m) and New Canaan ($1.93m). New Canaan Sales decreased 8.8% in the first quarter. That's not bad considering the psychological effect of exceptionally high inventory levels. Buyers are sitting back waiting for more inventory. We are all asking is this just a late start to the season?  New Canaan Pending Sales: is our best forward-looking indicator. Looking at the first quarter we saw a 21% decrease in Pending Sales from 43 to 34. Looking only at the month of March we saw a 17% decline. Again, this could be an indicator that the season starts later and  New Canaan Inventory:  In January inventory was up 47 houses. In February it was up 62 year over year. A whopping 33 houses came on the market in the first half of February and 24 out of 33 were new listings we did not see on the market last year. That trend continued in March with 76 new listings (versus 64 in March 20150 up 18%. We think inventory will peak at 370 single family houses.  Darien Inventory is only 57% that of New Canaan. Our sister town had only 176 active listings on March 15, a number up 21.4% from 2015. That is why CMLS calculates that Darien has 13 months of inventory while New Canaan has 31 months.  Condos:  Solid. 4 sales every month, 12 last quarter, 43 per year. Average price has decreased a little in the past year from $906,550 to $870,000 and now $776,917, reflecting continued demand for affordable housing in town. This is fresh inventory, turning over on average in 100 days. Of the 8 new condo listings in February we saw only 3 of them last year. In March we saw 15 new condos and only 5 were listings we saw last year, the rest were fresh and several of them are pending after a few days. Timing:  We've told you that nationally 66% of homes listed in February sell within 90 days, making it the best month to list. But, we found in New Canaan buyers typically wait until late April and May to make a deal that will close in June and July. We also learned that the spread between asking price and sale price is larger when snow is on the ground, making January the best time to make an offer, and April the best time to sell. Expect the spread to tighten back up to 96%   We told you interest rates would rise this Spring. Wow, were we wrong! We predicted that the psychological impact of rising rates would stimulate a sense of urgency and drive more buying energy into the first quarter. Janet Yellen put on the brakes. Now its shaping up to look more like last Spring with most of the deal-making occurring late Spring. Predictions have cooled from 2.7% growth in prices in 2016 to plus or minus 1%. Below is a link to the New Canaan April Market Report. If you would like to discuss the report, or if you have any other questions, feel free to contact us at 203-247-4700 (JE) or 203-247-5999 (SE).   Best regards,           John and Susan 29 Maple Street condo $875,000  The New York Times was looking last month for something cute under $1 million in New Canaan. They picked this.You'll see it featured this month and then no doubt it will be gone. Trulia says its the most clicked listing in town. Pride's Crossing #9   (condominium) - $888,000   A beautiful brick end unit at Pride's Crossing means twice as many windows, double the light. The garage is a few steps from the patio. The basement is finished. New on the market with photos of the freshly painted interior. 108 Toby's Lane  -  $1,325,000 One of the few examples under $1.5 million on the West side, this immaculate house offers privacy, a play yard and a view of the river. New on the market in March. 213 Old Stamford Road - $1,499,000  NEW PRICE REDUCTION. It always starts with location and this one has it: the Old Studio Road neighborhood near schools, Waveny and town. Totally renovated top to bottom with a gourmet kitchen in today's neutral colors.  289 New Norwalk Rd (condominium) - $1,680,000 Very private townhouse in the newer portion of Canaan Close features 3 large bedrooms (with ensuite baths) and 6 private balconies or decks overlooking the 5 Mile River 16 Ravenglass Road (Stamford) - $1,649,000   NEW Lakeside, set in 74 acres with pool and tennis court, this charming Hampton Shingle style home exudes relaxation. Sit on your generous wrap-around verandah looking across sweeping lawns to the lake. This 1 year old home in an exclusive gated community minutes from an historic tavern, country market, country club and the Merritt. 44 Benedict Hill - $1,799,000  The Evans House Featured by Curbed magazine last month as their House of the Day, one of the most striking and pure examples of midcentury modern architecture in the world. See the video of architect James Evans discussing it here. 1094 Ponus Ridge  - $2,222,000   REDUCED from $2,550,000. You say you want charm and character from the 1930's, but updated. You want a "football field" flat lawn. And, you'd like to live on Ponus. This is the house for you.  See the video of 1094 Ponus's sunset views here.  See Susan Engel give a tour of this house here. 1380 Ponus Ridge Road - $2,550,000 Willis Mills House The iconic Willis Mills Home of 1955, an orderly 4,200-foot grid of glass and red- wood sited on a tree-lined incline, is the height of the International Style. A double- height, glass-ringed living room is cantilevered out from the hillside, offset by diagonal balconies and terraces. The renovated kitchen and lower level by Bassam/Fellows compliments Mills' initial serene statement. 242 Wahackme Rd - $3,400,000 Maybe the best poolside entertaining in New Canaan. Consider it has the grandest soaring front foyer. This is an important house, showing like new, not to be missed.  1083 Smith Ridge - $4.200,000  Yes, its gone. SOLD to the nicest family you ever met. But you can still watch the video here:  See the video of 1083 Smith Ridge 227 Lambert Road -  $5,150,000   The quintessential family compound on the banks of the Five Mile River includes a gracious main house with river views, a separate studio/office, a guest house and the expertly designed, award-winning party barn. The peaceful, 2.6 acre property is bordered by 2.4 acres of Land Trust and the river. See the video of 227 Lambert Road here.

click here for the market report \