Days on the Market in Brownsville, Vermont

Horses grazing in the Bible Hill area of Brownsville, Vermont.

In the last post I talked about days on the market as an indicator of the strength of the market, and we saw that in Reading, Vermont the time it took to get a house under contract was way up in 2007 over 2006.
What about Brownsville?

2006: the average was 140 days on the market.
2007: the average was 177 days, or 6 months.
Not a huge difference but a Seller needs to be prepared for at least an extra month on the market over last year.

Days on the Market for Reading, Vermont

A view of Mt. Ascutney and into New Hampshire from Grasshopper Lane in South Reading, Vermont.

Minneapolis, MN Realtor and blogger Don Skelly asks the question-

"Median price of real estate- what does it really tell us"?

According to Mr. Skelly- apparantly not alot. So what stats tell us the most about the local market? Average price? Lets look a t Reading, Vermont sales again. We compared the median price between 2006 and 2007 up until September 12.

The median was up from $285,000 to $340,000. But if you compare the average sales price you get a HUGE difference: 2006= $366,109 to 2007= $660,525

Isn't the median a better indicator of the market, in general. With sales low and the high end back, a $2,500,000 sales skews the average way up.

I like median for markets with small statistical samples like Reading. Or, to help get a better feel for the state of the market, we could also examine Days on the Market.

Reading , Vermont:

2006 Average days on the market: 118 days

2007 Average days on the market: 329 days

That's a big difference.

Quechee, Vermont Real Estate Statistics

A hot air balloon rises over the 9th hole of the Highland Course in Quechee, Vermont. Cool.

Let me just start by saying Quechee is different. It's not a town, but a huge, sprawling private club of 1,500 plus members that have required amenity and use fees that affect desirability to own there. For a family that's going to use the golf courses, ski hill, tennis courts, swimming pools, beaches, health club, etcc. it'a a GREAT deal. It's just not a normal town; ok?

2006:

-34 homes sold

-median price: $410,000

-3 sold for over $1,000,000 with the top sale being $1,300,000

-30 condos sold

-median price: $335,000

- highest price: $553,000

2007 to today:

-30 homes sold

-median price: $395,000

-None above $1,000,000 with the highest price being $970,000

-20 condos sold

-median price: $235,000

- highest price: $480,000

So. Volume is up. But the high end seems to be dragging here. In all four towns the second home market is a factor but in Quechee it's key, and it's here we find the least interest in the high end of the market. Let's ponder what that might mean.

See ya.

Woodstock, Vermont Real Estate Statistics

Home in the River Street Historic Area of Woodstock, Vermont.

I like this photo because I built the porch!

Ok, back to the stats. Is the high-end back in the local real estate market? That is the question. We've looked at Reading and Brownsville and the answer seems to be yes.

Let's look at Woodstock. I tried this in another post and the format was confusing. So just the straight dope here:

2006:

-53 homes sold

-median price: $355,000

-6 sold for over $1,000,000 with the top price being $2,700,000

2007 to today:

-31 homes sold

-median price $320,000

-4 sold for over $1,000,000 with the top price being $1,400,000

Volume is down from a year ago and so is the median price, but not by that much. The percentage of homes sold over $1,000,000 is up, slightly. Woodstock, as a market, seems to have remained relatively stable over the last year.

Next up: Quechee

Brownsville, Vermont Real Estate Statistics

Beautiful Mount Ascutney in Brownsville, Vermont.

I'm back with some more stats, as promised. When we looked at stats for Reading, Vermont comparing 2006 and 2007 to this point it looks to me like the high end is back. Let's see if Brownsville bears that out.

2006:

Number of sales: 10

Median price: $315,000

Number of sales above $1,000,000: none

Sale price to list price: 93%

2007:

Number of sales: 12

Median price: $400,000

Number of sales above $1,000,000: 2 with the highest being $1,185,000

Sale price to list price: 92%

So: Sales are up, the median price is up and houses are selling in the Million plus range again.

So far we've looked at Reading and Brownsville and we seem to be seeing an indication that the high end of the market is returning. What does that mean for the market in general?

We'll think about that for awhile.

Up next: Beautiful Woodstock, Vermont.

Reading, Vermont Real Estate Statistics

The Stone Chimmney, a Reading, Vermont landmark.

A couple of weeks ago I looked at some statistics for sales of homes in Woodstock, Vermont after reading an article in the New York Times that said: "The median price of American homes is expected to fall this year for the first time since federal housing agencie began keeping statistics in 1950".

Let's look at sales of homes in Reading, Vermont for 2006 and compare them to this year.

In 2006 11 homes sold.

The median price was $285,000.

None sold for over $1,000,000

On average they sold for %95 of the listing price

In 2007, so far, there have been 8 homes sold.

The median price was $340,000.

2 have sold for over $1,000,000 with the top sale price being $2,500,000.

On average they have sold for %94 of the asking price.

So: a %1 drop in sold to list ratio

Number of sales slightly ahead of 2006.

A huge jump in the median price with the two million dollar plus sales.

Hence: The high end is back?

We'll check on Woodstock, Brownsville, and Quechee next.

Price is key in this market

Downtown Woodstock, Vermont.





Sunday's Valley News has a superb article by Chris Fleisher on the state of the Real Estate Market in the Upper Valley. The gist of it: Prices aren't coming down fast enough to encourage many buyers' to bite


A leading local Realtor is quoted as saying, " The sellers' attitude is locked into 2003 and 2004 prices. They are unwilling to accept the reality of the market."


This is causing a rise in inventory. The old saying about real estate; location, location, location, should be ammended a bit; price, price, price.


Think about it if you're a seller.

A view of the Kedron Foot Bridge that leads from the village of Woodstock, Vermont up to the lovely residential neighborhood of High Street.

Todays New York Times reports that " The median price of American homes is expected to fall this year for the first time since federal housing agencies began keeping statistics in 1950."

Woodstock homes sold through Realtors in the past 4 years look like this:

Year # Sold Median Price # under $300,000 # over 1 million

01 thru 08/26

_______________________________________________________

2007 26 $260,000 13 2

2006 33 $435,000 8 3

2005 33 $340,000 11 6

2004 36 $267,000 18 2

The other interesting facet of the article is that many who previously thought that national statistics were irrelevant because real estate markets are not national, but local, have changed their mind. We do, indeed seem to be in a national Buyer's Market. I think that the general wisdom has been that Woodstock was, more or less, immune from national trends but the statistics seem to indicate otherwise.

Quechee: "Top 100 Places to Retire"

In the Vermont Standard's most recent issue, Correspondent Audrey Richardson has a front page article noting Quechee Lakes inclusion in Where to Retire magazine's list of top places to retire in the US. No surprise. Quechee really has it all as far as amenities goes:

2 great golf courses, Lake Pineo's beach, top tennis, a ski hill with a top ski racing program, polo, fly fishing in the Ottaquechee River, two outdoor pools, a newly renovated and upgraded club house and fitness center, wonderful dining, hiking, cross-country skiing, awesome access to the major interstate highways, yet, still quaintly the idyllic Vermont of every ones dreams.

In spite of that, the real estate market in Quechee remains a bit flat at this time and presents itself as an incredible opportunity for the patient Buyer.

There are currently 83 homes and 73 condos on the market.

In 2006 34 homes sold and 30 condos.

So far, this year, 27 homes have sold and 17 condos.

There is a backlog of inventory which makes it a great time for retirees interested in the area to begin looking around for a property they would love to spend their Golden Years in.

Ascutney's plans for the future.

The owner's of the resort went before the Town again last week to present a vision of where they believe the resort needs to go to be a viable 4 season resort. It entails DEVELOPMENT.

This is not something that should be terribly shocking to anyone. With the exception of a couple of new homes built in 2005 and the refurbishment of some of the Planned Unit Development buildings into time-shares, there has been no new product in the resort for some time. Mountain's Edge, the newest of the 3 condo developments is 22 years old.

Are the Owners really asking for too much here? New real estate projects are needed to be able to inject revenue, buzz, and excitement in to the resort.

The Town, of course, has the right and the obligation to carefuly examine the proposals and ensure that what the resort wants to do is permissible under current zoning regulations. But anyone who has been to one of these meetings can't help but come away with the feeling that many in the Town are stuck in a past thaat no longer exists and would deny the resort any expansion it needs to be able to compete with the larger ski areas close by.

Is this realistic? Is this fair?