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BUSINESS Monday 18 January 2021
Fleeing New Yorkers squeeze surrounding housing markets

By SUSAN HAIGH tember and $157 million in
Associated Press November. “It’s insane,”
Angel Garcia, a single fa- he said. “The prices have
ther approved for a mort- gone up and the sales
gage loan of $300,000, had have gone up.”
high hopes in early 2020 of Lamont, a Democrat, not-
finding a house he could ed in his address the ad-
afford in his hometown of vantages of the influx.
Stamford, Connecticut. “There are many reasons
Then the COVID-19 pan- young families and new
demic hit. Within months, businesses are giving us a
New Yorkers began flee- second look and choosing
ing the city and the sur- Connecticut,” Lamont said,
rounding area, snapping suggesting people may
up houses. Home prices be drawn to the state’s
that already had been out schools, city and town cen-
of reach for many jumped ters that offer “some of the
higher. Garcia, who over- best and safest outdoor
sees security at Stamford’s dining experiences in the
government building, end- country,” or the ability to
ed the year still living with quarantine in a small back-
his 3-year-old daughter in a yard rather than a small
Stamford rental. apartment.
“It’s so hard with all the The location of a future construction site of affordable housing is shown Tuesday, Dec. 29, 2020, in “Whatever the reason,”
competition out here and Stamford, Conn. Associated Press Lamont said, “tens of thou-
the prices, as they are now. sands of young families
They were already expen- levels. A shortage of afford- square miles (134 square ki- ers relocated this year to have moved to the state
sive,” said Garcia, who has able homes is being wors- lometers) and is considered smaller cities, according for the first time in a gen-
a second job as a security ened by newcomers who more affordable than other to Updater, a relocation eration because they rec-
guard. often are buying homes Fairfield County communi- technology company that ognize and appreciate our
An influx of people relo- quickly and with cash, said ties, said Tammy Felenstein, has tracked national mov- Connecticut values.”
cating to the state and in Joan Carty, president and executive vice president ing trends during the pan- In the same address, he
particular Fairfield County, chief executive officer of and managing director of demic. Connecticut saw pledged to expand his ad-
on the New York state line, the Stamford-based Hous- sales at Brown Harris Ste- more people move into ministration’s “commitment
has been celebrated by ing Development Fund, a vens Connecticut LLC in it than out of it for the first to affordable housing.”
many including Gov. Ned nonprofit that finances de- Stamford. time in three years, accord- Max Reiss, the governor’s
Lamont, who said in his velopment of affordable “You hear stories, ‘Oh, this ing to Updater, which said spokesperson, said that
State of the State address housing and provides loans couple have lost three Stamford was the top des- while Lamont believes a
last week that it showed a to first-time homebuyers. homes. They’ve been out- tination for relocating New competitive housing mar-
desire for more spacious liv- “We absolutely can see it. bid every time.’ And that Yorkers. ket is good for the state’s
ing arrangements and an And it’s just making, I think, definitely happens,” said Thomas Madden, director overall economy, he
appreciation of “Connecti- the level of inequity more Felenstein. She said her of economic development doesn’t believe access to
cut values.” glaringly obvious,” she said. brokers are “dying for in- for Stamford, said that in home ownership should
But it also has made it One day late last month, ventory” in Stamford, a a typical month before be out of reach because
more difficult for many to there were just five single- place that can seem like a the pandemic, there were of one housing boom —
find affordable housing in family houses for sale un- bargain to many from New roughly $80 million to $110 and that’s why he sup-
an area that rates among der $400,000, with the low- York City. million in housing sales. That ports adequate funding
the country’s most unequal est priced at $325,000, In metro areas across the shot up to $146 million in for state housing assistance
places in terms of income in Stamford, which is 52 country, big-city dwell- August, $152 million in Sep- programs.q
Retail group: holiday sales up 8.3% amid big spending shift

By ANNE D’INNOCENZIO rants and travel and more are consolidating their trips
AP Retail Writer toward buying goods that and favoring stores that of-
NEW YORK (AP) — The na- focus on activities around fer a wide range of goods
tion’s largest retail trade the home like home furnish- under one roof as they look
group said Friday that ings, food and activewear. to minimize the exposure of
holiday sales soared 8.3%, That trend has benefited the virus.
far exceeding its forecast retailers. The retail sales fig- The National Retail Federa-
even as the coronavirus ures exclude sales from au- tion also said that shoppers
kept shoppers away from tos, restaurants and gas. are looking for opportuni-
physical stores. Moreover, even within ties to celebrate during
The National Retail Federa- the retail industry, big box tough times.
tion had expected growth stores like Walmart and “Faced with rising trans-
in a range of 3.6% to 5.2% Target are dominating the mission of the virus, state
for the November and De- landscape, enjoying big restrictions on retailers and
cember period compared sales gains at the expense heightened political and In this Nov. 5, 2020 file photo, a Target employee places a
to the year-ago period. of mall-based stores that economic uncertainty, curbside pickup purchase into the trunk of a customer in
Jackson, Miss.
The outsized gains show were forced to temporar- consumers chose to spend Associated Press
how the pandemic has ily close during the spring on gifts that lifted the spirits
caused a major shift in and early summer and still of their families and friends normalcy given the chal- Shay, CEO of the trade
spending away from restau- face restrictions. Shoppers and provided a sense of lenging year, “ said Matt group, in a statement.q