Redding, like most Danbury-area towns, was no stranger to having a transfusion of new residents populate its neighborhoods amid the ongoing pandemic and continues to see the change.
Between 2020 and 2021, the town reported about 342 property transfers and its grand list slightly grew even as real estate prices dropped, according to data the News-Times obtained from Redding. So far in 2021, the town’s experienced an additional 199 property transfers, keeping with the booming trends.
Newcomers and soon-to-be Redding-ites have shared why they chose Redding among all that Connecticut has to offer. The reason why people flocked there has become clear. It’s all about location and space.
Laurie Thompson and her husband Rob Commisso were living in Larchmont, New York and searching for a new place to call home before the pandemic struck. When they’d been considering Colorado, the pandemic set in and they realized it was too drastic a change for their family. Instead, they landed in rural Vermont, falling in love with it for a short time. But even in that rustic bliss, something was still missing.
“We were thinking how can we combine this with still being close to our family and close enough to New York City,” she said. “One weekend house hunting trip and we decided to move here.”
“Our current house [in Redding] couldn’t even exist in Larchmont because there isn’t enough land or space,” she added.
Laura Cole and Emily Fernández, who both bought Redding homes and are soon moving from Washington D.C. and Indiana, said their decision came down to similar reasons.
“We wanted to live somewhere that was within distance of cities but we really just needed more yard space and room to roam,” Cole said.
While both families looked in other areas, they chose Redding because of its beauty and natural landscape. Though securing a home in Redding was “wild” with the fierce competition that’s consumed the current real estate market, Cole said. Fernández agreed.
“We had seen a good dozen homes and were interested in others but they were off the market before we could see them,” she said.
Several of these newcomers noted they had to move quickly on their home purchases, throwing in offers and signing off within a day.
Rose Villani, also moving to the town soon, remembered there were 17 offers in about 26 hours for one house she was interested in. She knew it would be competitive going into the process, but she didn’t imagine it to be that fast-moving.
“It was a little bit stressful,” she said. “It’s kind of a crazy time.”
