Contract in Havemeyer

37 North Ridge Road, 2020 construction and priced at $2.730 million reports a contract after 26 days on the market.

New construction in Havemeyer, which until recently sold in the (approximate) range of $1.8, has suddenly seen prices like this. That’s good news for owners of older homes here because the higher the price a builder can get for his new project, the more he can pay you for your land. This property, with a doomed house on it, sold for $1.020 in May 2018; a similar lot would probably fetch more today.

I’ve also noticed that as prices have climbed, “Havemeyer Park” is being replaced by vague terms, as here, like “in the Palmer Hill section of Old Greenwich”. I never thought ‘Havemeyer Park” carried a stigma — it’s a great neighborhood – but it is true that it has historically been associated with affordable homes. Now that that seems to no longer apply, I suppose a change of name is appropriate, though I’ve always thought of Palmer Hill” as Havemeyer’s poor cousin; “Moneyed Acres” might be better.

And not to nitpick, but I’ve also noticed that spec houses are no longer described as such, and are called “custom-built” instead. Traditionally, custom-built meant built to the individual specifications of an ower; technically, I guess, the builder is the owner during construction, so if he specifies the details, it might, by stretching the term, be considered a custom home, but that’s not too different from a Chevrolet that’s been built to GM’s specifications being described as a “custom-built” car; to me, it’s still just a Chevy.