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

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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?