First Quarter Looking Good!

        We looked at the first quarter of 2013compared to 2012 and the average price of condos and single family homes in Chittenden County (looked at together) went up 12% and the median increased 6%! These are great numbers to see after many years of a down market. Of interest is that the number of homes sold was nearly identical, 248 versus 247, and the number of days on market were virtually the same also, 114 versus 117.

     Grand Isle County towns of South Hero, Grand Isle and North Hero had a huge increase in the average and median prices because there were five homes sold over $500,000. If this trend continues, this is a great sign of a turn in the market because the luxury home sales have been down in Grand Isle County. Actually, they have been down everywhere. There is still a 32-month inventory of houses over $500,000 but we are optimistic given how many sold this first quarter. Number of days on the market for all sales was 278 days vs 186 in 2012. So, it is taking longer to sell houses. As in past reporting, the data is from a small number of sales, so we share this with that fact in mind.

     Franklin County towns of St. Albans town and city, Georgia, Highgate, Fairfax showed average increases in sales prices of 21% and median increase of 11%. These are good signs of improvement also. Franklin County historically has seen recovery after Chittenden County. Obviously, with these numbers, we are feeling optimistic about the housing market in these towns.

     Please check out the data report from the Northwestern Vermont Board of Realtors here. They look at different data and you will find many interesting individual town reports and overall summaries of the market. This report is for March 2013 but makes comparisons to last March and to year-to-date sales.

     We hope for continued increased sales prices but also for a steady increase versus continued spikes. Steady is better but we sure will take these improvements!