Presently, house prices are very high. They are rising all over the world, and in some of them at a much bigger pace than a few months ago. What could be happening at the end of the year, while in past years, the real estate market was at a low. Of course, there are also countries in Europe, for example that still have trouble, like Spain, where prices are dropping.
The housing market in the U.S. has recovered in just two years after dropping noticeably and prices have come down to the average price, even though, surprisingly maybe, foreclosure cases have taken a downturn. In a
study by Core Logic, there are about 648,000 homes in different stages of foreclosure process starting from June. This means a 35% decrease, down from 1 million in June last year.
Vermont today
- Vermont has a pretty stable real estate market, even though not so many noticeable home sales have been seen. Prices have dropped, but not so many actual sales have been made.
- In October, the median home value was of $220,600. This means that is has gone up with 1.8% over the past year and estimates are that it will continue rising with 2.7% in the space of 2015.
- The median list price per square foot is of $140 and for the homes listed at present, of $234,900. The median price for home that have been sold is of $216,500. As far as rent prices go, they are of about $1,450.
Obviously, the economy has had an impact on Vermont as well, with luxury homes not being sold as much as small homes and condos. There haven’t been sales going over 1,500,000 so far in 2014,and the year is almost at a close.It would seem thedemand for properties that surpass this figure has been made, but no transactions have been finalised.
Median listing prices for Vermont cities in 2014
| Essex | $271,800 |
| Burlington | $258,000 |
| Essex Junction | $250,600 |
| South Burlington | $243,100 |
| Colchester | $238,500 |
| Town of Milton | $237,900 |
| Brattelboro | $171,100 |
| Town of Rutland | $139,500 |
| Town of Springfield | $123,800 |
The situation in 2009 around Vermont
In 2009, the situation seemed to be stabilizing, according to economists from the Keller Centre at Baylor University. Due to the situation the economy had been starting with in 2008, things didn’t look so well, with home
prices fast declining. The majority of specialists (75%) then predicted that the market would hit bottom by the end of 2009.
Even though the situation appeared dramatic, it turned out that the single-family segment of the housing market was beginning to stabilize in the second quarter.
In some areas of Vermont, like Bennington (which includes Arlington, Sandgate, Sunderland, Shaftsbury, Bennington, Old Bennington, North Bennington, Woodford and Pownal) in June 2009, there were 34 homes sold. This indeed seemed to be encouraging, as this was nearly 50% of the number of houses sold in the same quarter in 2008. Due to more homes (28) being “under contract” at the time, with the expectancy to close within a short while, the market showed signs of becoming more active.
For example Stowe, had many condos and townhome projects. Most of them were and are still owned by second home and vacation home owners, as Vermont is a four season resort. Even though Stowe is a place where tourists come all year-round and many thought about actually buying a vacation home, in 2009, there was a reduction of sales. At that time, mortgage companies bought condos, which made things more difficult for buyers.
Source: http://www.pallspera.com/news/stowe-luxury-real-estate-trends/
Changes along the years
The real estate market hasn’t changed so greatly in the last five years, the lines being pretty stable as can be seen from the graph below.
The highest point seemed to be between 2012-2013, especially in July of 2012, when Vermont median listing price was of $221K, going down in January 2013 with 13 points, reaching $208K. In December 2009, it was of $219K and five years later, in January 2014, it reached $220K, which isn’t much of a difference between the two. A certain cyclicality can be viewed and so, we wonder if the same situation will appear in 2015, as it did in 2010, when median listing prices were around $215K.
Expectations for 2015
Vermont’s real estate market is expected to rise next year, as new construction projects are on the way, this leading to an increase in the economy. Property taxes though won’t change much, the national finances still being affected by the recent recession. Mortgage rates are said to rise by the end of with 5% for a 30-year fixed mortgage.
