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A LOOK BACK AT 2008 What a historic year in so many ways! In recent national news, the National Association of Realtors (NAR) announced that existing home sales for December were UP 6.5% while inventory fell 11.7%, meaning a 9.3 month supply of homes to be sold, down from 11.2% in November. In spite of these positive national statistics, the story didn’t get much coverage.
While the real estate market in Chittenden County seems to have faired better than much of the rest of the country, recent statistics and events may indicate changes. Yesterday, IBM made major layoffs that could be up to 477 employees.
In 2008 Chittenden County saw the number of single family homes sold go down over 22% while the average and median home prices were down 3.8%.
There were some interesting deviations from these trends that seem to defy the laws of supply and demand. For example, in Burlington the number of sales was DOWN over 34% (from 181 to 118) while the average sales price was UP 9.5%.
Colchester sales were down 25% while average price was down only 3.9%.
Bucking the trend, Essex sales volume was UP 9.5% while average price was DOWN 9.5%. Other towns’ values varied but in general, we now have a greater number of homes available at lower prices with interest rates near all time lows. This makes 2009 a great time to be looking for your home in the Burlington area.
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