The News First

A new edition of a national state-by-state housing report card is out, and Connecticut did not fare well. The report grades all 50 states plus Washington, D.C., on a 100-point scale split evenly between two things: how affordable homes are for the people who actually live there, and how aggressively each state is building new housing to meet demand.

Connecticut landed at No. 46 out of 51, with a total score of 29.0 and a letter grade of F. We share that failing grade with California, Hawaii, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, and New York. Every single “F” in the country belongs to a state in either the Northeast or the West—and the Northeast as a region scored the worst in the nation.

Maybe the most sobering part: this is not new. Connecticut held the exact same ranking it had last year. A single year of data didn’t move us, and the report is candid that it won’t—the gap states like ours face will take years of consistent change to close.

Why Connecticut Failed: The Numbers

The report breaks each state’s score into affordability and homebuilding. Connecticut’s problem is that it stumbles on both—but especially on building. Here’s where our state actually lands:

• Median listing price: $518,892 — well above what a typical local income supports
• Median household income: $95,392 — high by national standards, but not high enough
• Permit-to-population ratio: 0.49 — we’re building roughly half our “fair share”
• New-construction premium: 72.0% — new homes cost far more than existing ones
• REALTORS® Affordability Score: 0.67 — middling; better than some peers, but not enough

The building number is the headline. A permit-to-population ratio of 0.49 means Connecticut accounts for less than half the building permits its population share would suggest, ranking us among the lowest-building states in the country. When you pair that with a 72% new-construction premium—meaning the new homes we do build cost dramatically more than existing inventory—you get a market that isn’t producing the kind of homes ordinary buyers can actually afford.

And notice the income line. At over $95,000, Connecticut’s median household income is genuinely high. The failing grade isn’t because people here don’t earn well. It’s because prices and underbuilding have outrun even strong paychecks.

Jake’s Take: The Legal Machinery Behind the Grade

Reports like this measure outcomes—prices and permits—but the causes sit largely in law and policy. The report itself names the culprits: restrictive zoning, constrained land, slow permitting, and building costs that outrun middle-income budgets. As someone who works in Connecticut every day, a few of these hit close to home:

• Local zoning control. Connecticut leans heavily on municipal land-use authority. Minimum lot sizes, density caps, and limits on multifamily housing get decided town by town, and they add up to a state that structurally builds less.
• Permitting friction. A 0.49 permit ratio doesn’t happen by accident. The approval process—from local commissions to appeals—adds time and cost that discourages exactly the entry-level construction this report rewards.
• The new-construction premium. When it costs so much to get anything approved and built, builders rationally chase higher-margin, higher-priced homes. That’s the 72% premium in one sentence.
• Contrast with the leaders. The states topping this list—Indiana, Iowa, the Carolinas, Texas—share lower regulatory barriers and more available land. South Carolina actually builds new homes that cost less than existing ones. That’s the opposite of our situation.

What This Means If You Live Here

For buyers—especially first-time buyers and young families—the grade confirms what you already feel: inventory is tight, prices are steep, and new construction skews expensive. For sellers and longtime owners, that same scarcity is part of why values have held up. The report’s broader warning is that without policy reform, the gap between Connecticut and the affordable-housing leaders will only widen.

None of this is a reason for despair. It’s a reason to plan. Whether you’re buying your first home, helping aging parents downsize, or putting your estate in order so the home you own passes cleanly to the next generation, the legal details matter more in a high-cost, low-inventory market than in an easy one.

IF YOU NEED A LAWYER CONTACT US