No shortage of wealth

By Daphne Garland-McLean -- Casual Living, 9/1/2007 12:00:00 AM

Part of Fairfield County's "Gold Coast," Stamford is home to a cluster of corporate headquarters. This, coupled with its close proximity to New York City (only 25 miles away), gives it strong economic vitality.

The Stamford metro area, which includes the more industrial Bridgeport and Norwalk cities, as well as the old-money towns of Greenwich, New Canaan, Darien and Westport, is the fourth largest in the state of Connecticut.

According to statisticians at New York-based Easy Analytic Software Inc., the metro area ranks No. 1 in the nation for the most expensive homes. This is not surprising as households in the area have high incomes. In 2006, median household income totaled nearly $69,000 and is expected to grow to about $87,000 by 2011. In fact, the Stamford metro is fifth in the nation in terms of median income.

With growing incomes and the desire to bring indoor luxuries out for entertaining, affluent homebuyers are furnishing their outdoor spaces as an extension of their indoor decor with dining/seating, grills, fireplaces, lamps and rugs.

EASI forecasts indicate deck, patio and pool furniture sales will increase by 24% between 2006 and 2011 and grill sales by 22% during the same period.

Market potential data giving demographic and income statistics as well as sales estimates and projections for the nation's 934 metropolitan areas are available at Casual Living's Web site,www.casualliving.com. Sales estimates for 2006 and projections for 2011 for all 934 metros are available for outdoor furniture and grills, as well as other furniture products in a series of Product Potential reports (one product per report). Click on Research and go to the Research store, or go straight tohttp://www.reedbusinessstore.com/markets.htm