How to Sell a Home in Connecticut: Step-by-Step Guide for 2026

The median Connecticut listing asked $530,000 in August 2026, with a median 42 days on market (Realtor.com® Economic Research). Selling a single-family home or condo under $800,000, you owe conveyance tax of 0.75% to the state plus 0.25% to the town, or up to 0.5% where the town adopted an add-on.

The two market numbers come from MLS listings of single-family homes, condos and townhomes statewide. The price is an asking price. The day count runs from first listing until the home closes or comes off the market. Source: Realtor.com Economic Research data library, August 2026 state inventory.

Chapter 223 conveyance tax: rates by property type

Conn. Gen. Stat. § 12-495 makes the tax “payable by the person conveying the property,” and the town clerk will not record the deed until Form OP-236 is filed and the tax reported is paid (§ 12-497). For a single-family house, condo unit or co-op unit, the state share is 0.75% on the price up to $800,000, then, since July 1, 2020, 1.25% on the slice above $800,000 through $2.5 million and 2.25% on anything above that (§ 12-494(b)(2)). A two-family house or apartment building pays a flat 0.75% state share at every price (OP-236, line 17).

Every town also collects 0.25% of the whole consideration (§ 12-494(a)(2)). Towns that qualify as targeted investment communities (§ 32-222) or host a manufacturing plant designated under § 32-75c can levy up to 0.25% more (§ 12-494(c)). Section 12-498 exempts 22 kinds of transfer from the whole tax and a further group from the state share only; the Connecticut closing costs guide walks through them.

The Residential Property Condition Report comes first

A seller of one to four dwelling units, co-ops and condos included, must give the buyer the Department of Consumer Protection’s written condition report before the buyer signs any binder, contract to purchase, option or lease with a purchase option (§ 20-327b). A for-sale-by-owner seller is covered too. Nine kinds of transfer are exempt under § 20-327b(b), transfers by executors and trustees among them.

Skipping the report does not end with a missing form. Section 20-327c(a) makes the purchase agreement credit the buyer $500 at closing if the report was not furnished, and paying that credit does not excuse a defect that is subject to disclosure under § 20-327b, is within the seller’s actual knowledge, and significantly impairs the home’s value, occupants’ health or safety, or its useful life; the buyer may sue for actual damages (§ 20-327c(b)–(c)). Full exemption list and form contents: Connecticut seller disclosure guide.

A Connecticut attorney conducts the closing: § 51-88a

Since October 1, 2019, Conn. Gen. Stat. § 51-88a has barred anyone from conducting a “real estate closing” unless that person is admitted as an attorney in Connecticut and not disqualified by resignation, disbarment, inactive status or suspension. The definition reaches “any transaction wherein consideration is paid by a party to such transaction to effectuate a change in the ownership of real property in this state,” which takes in an ordinary home sale, and also mortgage loan closings, except home equity lines of credit and loans that involve no lender’s title insurance policy. A violation counts as one of § 51-88(a)(8) and carries that section’s penalties. The rule governs who runs the closing table.

Buyer-agent compensation after August 17, 2024

Since August 17, 2024, NAR’s rules have kept offers of compensation to buyer agents off MLSs covered by the settlement. Sellers may still list concessions such as buyer closing-cost help there, and the FAQ adds: “As a seller, you still have the choice of offering compensation to buyer agents.” That choice is now made off the MLS. Before anything is paid or promised to an agent working for buyers, your listing agent must disclose it to you in writing, give “the payment amount or rate,” and get your approval. Your agent’s own fee “remains fully negotiable and is not set by law.” Related: listing with an agent or selling yourself and how commissions work.

Gain on the sale: 26 U.S.C. § 121

The exclusion is federal, not a Connecticut rule. Under § 121, a single filer excludes up to $250,000 of gain after owning the home, and using it as a principal residence, for periods adding up to two years within the five years before the sale. A seller who excluded gain on another home sale in the two years ending on this one gets no exclusion this time. Married couples filing jointly exclude up to $500,000 only if at least one spouse meets the ownership test, both meet the use test, and neither spouse is barred by that two-year rule. Estimate what you keep with the net proceeds calculator.

Connecticut seller questions

Does the buyer owe any part of the conveyance tax?

Not on an ordinary house sale. Section 12-495 puts it on the person conveying, and the buyer’s mortgage deed is exempt as a deed securing a debt (§ 12-498(a)(2)).

What does the state take on a two-family house sold for $900,000?

$6,750. A two-family is not a single-family “residential dwelling,” so the flat 0.75% applies instead of the $800,000 tier. The town share at the base 0.25% rate adds $2,250, more in a town with the add-on.

Our foundation is crumbling from pyrrhotite. Is the sale taxed?

Not the first sale of your principal residence after a licensed professional engineer’s written evaluation finds the foundation was made with defective concrete and it has deteriorated from pyrrhotite (§ 12-498(a)(21)). The exemption is closed to a seller who received financial assistance from the Crumbling Foundations Assistance Fund.

I’m selling my late father’s house as executor. Do I fill out the condition report?

No, the duty does not apply to you. Section 20-327b(b)(4) exempts transfers made by executors, administrators, trustees and conservators.

Also useful: conveyance tax explained and Connecticut property tax and mill rates.