Homeownership in Litchfield County isn’t a reality for many middle- and low-income families in western Connecticut. But efforts are under way to make new homes more affordable.
The latest example is a brand-new Cape Cod-style home, which was sold for $280,000 – far below the average price in the area.
The Washington Community Housing Trust helped make it happen.
The house is the eighth of 10 in the works in western Connecticut as part of an affordable housing effort spearheaded by the Litchfield County Center for Housing Opportunity. The initiative also involves nonprofit housing developers in four towns.
The final two homes are expected to be complete by the end of the year, according to center director Jocelyn Ayers.
As the cost of housing has increased statewide, it’s become more difficult to construct homes, Ayers said.
“A long time ago, our local housing nonprofits were able to build these types of homes and then raise just a little bit of money locally and sell them affordably,” Ayers said.
Litchfield County, like all of Connecticut, has an affordability and housing crisis. The four towns included in the Litchfield County Affordable Homeownership Program are Salisbury, Norfolk, Washington and Cornwall.
Eligible families were required to earn below the area median income (AMI) and pre-qualify for a mortgage of at least $200,000.
All the homes are selling between $250,000 and $330,000. That’s compared to an average home sale price between $882,500 and $1.2 million in the four municipalities in 2024.
Homes that sell below these prices are often older, requiring costly renovations and upgrades, Ayers said.
“Because of the cost of construction, the challenging sites in our rural towns, where we have to put in wells and septics, we just really need the additional partnership,” Ayers said.
Washington is home to many New Yorkers with second homes, making the town even less affordable, according to Bill Fairbairn with the Washington Community Housing Trust.
“The old-time money in Washington has sort of died off,” Fairbairn said. “Now we have lots of people who have resources, but aren't as connected to the community as some of these people back from the ‘50s and ‘60s and ‘70s.”
The housing trust helped make the Cape Cod house in Washington a reality.
The house is on wooded land, requiring land clearing and the installation of home infrastructure, like a septic system. It’s the fourth home built by the housing trust, and Washington’s only home included in the affordable homeownership program.
The house, with three bedrooms and two bathrooms, was bought by a New Milford family with three young children, Fairbairn said.
“The young man works for a roofing company, and they do a lot of work here. So now he's closer to where he works,” Fairbairn said. “I always felt like you should be able to live in the town that you work in.”
