Fairfield County is comprised of two large, urban centers (Stamford and Norwalk), plus several upscale, suburban towns -- Greenwich, New Canaan, Darien, Wilton, and Westport. The suburban towns offer single family homes for rent, plus the occassional condo. The larger urban centers, including Greenwich, offer more traditional apartment buildings in addition to the single family homes and garden townhouse condos found in the other towns.

Given our proximity to Manhattan, this entire area sees a lot of corporate relocation and this puts upward pressures on rents (since the corporations are paying the rent, not the executive). Additionally, this area is seeing a huge boom in new construction and renovation, and all those folks putting an addition on their homes today are living temporarily in rental houses.

Stamford has been the source of thousands of new jobs in the past four years, bringing in both executives and entry-level employees alike. Since many are relocating from New York City, and overseas, many have chosen to rent first for a year or so, again putting pressure on rents.

As of September 2000 there were some 32 rental properties on the market in New Canaan, ranging in price from $1,000 to $9,000 per month. The majority of these are single family homes, some of which are small, one- or two-bedroom units with large five-bedroom units also on the market. Usually, there are also a few condos on the rental market too, though the number here is relatively small due to restrictions in many of the By-Laws. The condos do tend to be within walking distance of both Town and the railroad station, making them exceptionally attractive to some.

New Canaan had a total of 69 new rental properties come on the market during the period from Jan thru June 2000 and the average list price was $ 3,610. During the same six months, 42 units were rented for an average rent of $ 3,160 per month.

At September 2000 Greenwich (and all its districts) had over 125 rentals on the market, ranging in price from $1,000 to $25,000 per month. Greenwich also has a "seasonal" rental market, mainly for waterfront properties in the summer, but also for large corporate estates for the winter holidays, and all these properties rent for greater amounts.

Greenwich does offer traditional apartment style rentals in elevator buildings within walking distance of Greenwich Avenue and its well known shopping.

In July, there were 56 new rentals that came on to the market, but the average price was $ 6,800 per month. During the month 56 units were rented at an average rental of $ 5,250 per month.