Vermont

It’s never been a boom to bust cycle in Vermont real estate, and those who make this state home may be blessed with that more than in any other state in the lower 48.

As the national real estate crisis worsens Vermont home owners are counting themselves lucky. Home sales across Vermont increased less than 1% in 2007 on slower sales. Although foreclosures have edged upward, Vermont has the lowest foreclosure rate of any state in the nation.

A sort of uneasy real estate virus has caught on in Vermont. Vermont residents like every where else hear general daily news reports that the credit crunch is hurting the real estate market. So they believe the reports. But the fact is Vermont prices are hardly going anywhere up or down.

Real estate sales have slowed to a crawl. The second home or vacation market has dried up and other home sales are slowing down more. It’s a self-fulfilling prophecy.

City	Forecast
Burlington	0.5%
Hartford	− 2.1%
Wilmington	1.7%

The weakening vacation home market has cut the state’s tax revenue base, and that could mean problems in the future. Construction starts on new homes are down, which could also lead Vermont right into the national recession in 2008.

In Hartford, where a robust economy produced record high prices during the real estate boom home sales are slower, and should remain that way through 2008 on forecast deflation of just 2.1%, according to the Housing Predictor forecast.

In Burlington sales are also off and not just because of the normal winter chill. Vermont’s housing market hits plateaus and then chills until spring weather warms the market place. Burlington will see less activity this year and is forecast to appreciate only one-half of one percent.

The market in Wilmington may be slightly more active as the summer selling season hits, and is forecast by Housing Predictor to net 1.7% in appreciation for 2008.

Waterbury is recognized as the Crossroads of Vermont and the once active market has slowed. Homes topped $500,000 before things changed in America’s real estate markets.

Prices climb more slowly in Vermont than most other states even though it has attracted more new residents. Vermont after all is New England’s snow country, where skiers flock to race down hill in the winter, and fish and hunt during the spring and summer, a quality of life that’s hard to equal anywhere in the lower 48.