Sell Your Commercial Property In Connecticut

The Connecticut rental market at a glance

Connecticut had 481,018 renter households in the Census Bureau's 2020-2024 American Community Survey, or 33.5% of 1,434,007 occupied homes. Median gross rent was $1,488 a month. Rental vacancy measured 4.3% in the DP04 housing profile.

Apartment-style stock is modest: 287,419 Connecticut housing units, 18.6% of the total, sit in buildings of five or more units. The median home was built in 1967, so buyers expect older stock and ask about capital needs early.

Median household income was $95,781, which puts the $1,488 median rent near 18.6% of a typical household's gross income. Renters carry more strain: 52.6% of Connecticut renter households paid 30% or more of income on rent, per table B25070.

Five-year trends in Connecticut

Connecticut median gross rent rose 26.1% between the 2015-2019 and 2020-2024 ACS periods, from $1,180 to $1,488. Median household income grew 22.1%, from $78,444 to $95,781. Rents outran incomes by 4.0 percentage points.

Connecticut added 15,953 renter households over the same span, a 3.4% gain. Units in five-plus buildings grew 4.9%, adding 13,350 units. Population rose just 1.4%, so growth in renter demand came mostly from household formation, not new residents.

Connecticut county comparison

Connecticut abolished county government, so the Census Bureau's county-level tables stop at the 2017-2021 ACS. The figures below use that period for the four largest Connecticut counties, ranked by population.

Median gross rent ranges from $1,191 in Hartford County to $1,593 in Fairfield County. Rental vacancy runs from 4.4% in New London County to 5.6% in Fairfield and Hartford counties.

New Haven County has the highest renter share at 37.9%, while New London County has the lowest share of units in five-plus buildings at 14.4%. Fairfield County rents rose 15.0% between 2012-2016 and 2017-2021, while Hartford County rents rose 17.2% over the same span.

Connecticut landlord, tax and transfer rules

Connecticut sets no statewide cap on rent increases. Under Conn. Gen. Stat. Section 7-148b, towns with 25,000 or more residents must operate a fair rent commission, which can review a rent it finds harsh and unconscionable.

Security deposits are capped at two months' rent, or one month for tenants 62 and older, under Section 47a-21. Refunds are due within 21 days of move-out or 15 days after a forwarding address, whichever is later. A buyer takes over deposit liability, so the seller must transfer the full deposits and accrued interest.

Connecticut assesses real property at 70% of fair market value. Each town must revalue at least every five years under Section 12-62 and sets its own mill rate, so tax bills differ town by town.

The conveyance tax on an apartment building is 1.0%: 0.75% state plus 0.25% municipal. Targeted investment communities may add up to 0.25% under Section 12-494(c). Non-residential property carries a 1.25% state portion, but apartment buildings are not in that bucket.

What this means if you sell in Connecticut

Owners who sell commercial property in Connecticut are priced on rent rolls, older-building condition and the town's next revaluation. A Fairfield County building at $1,593 median rent reads differently to a buyer than a Hartford County one at $1,191.

Taxes and deposits need early work. Because Connecticut towns set their own mill rates, we underwrite each building against its own town's bill. Pull the deposit escrow records too, since the buyer inherits those tenant claims. HUD's FY2027 two-bedroom Fair Market Rent ranges from $1,560 to $2,399 across Connecticut, a useful check on rent-roll assumptions.

We review Connecticut buildings of five or more units in the four counties above and elsewhere in the region. Send the rent roll and the latest tax bill, and we will set the property against these figures.