Comparing Third Quarter 2024 to Third Quarter 2023
Each quarter, I like to compare market data as that provides important insights compared to using only month-to-month data.
I looked at Chittenden and Franklin Counties, condos and single-family homes together, and compared the number of sold properties, median sales price, percentage of the asking price that sellers received, and median days on market until sellers accepted an offer, comparing the third quarter of 2024 to 2023.
In Q3 of 2024 in Chittenden County, 520 homes sold compared to 448 in 2023 for a 16% increase. The median sales price in 2024 was $525,000 compared to $486,000 in 2023 for an increase of 8%. Sellers received 101.12% of their asking price in 2024 compared to 103. 52% in 2023. Median days on market were nearly the same year-over-year: 7 days in 2024 and 6 days in 2023.
What does all this mean? It turns out there were more homes listed which caused more homes to sell. Seems simple, right? 578 homes were listed in 2024 compared to 528 in 2023. If you add the difference in what was sold in 2024, 50 homes, to the number of homes sold in 2023, you get 526 which is approximately how many homes sold in 2024. Simplified, there were more homes listed in 2024 and therefore, more homes sold. And the math proves it.
The median sales price of 8% is a healthy increase. We must remember that part of that number is new construction. South Burlington continues to grow with new house stock. The prices are high and that helps drive up the median sales price.
In Franklin County, 148 homes sold in 2024 compared to 167 in 2023 – a decrease in the number of homes sold. And there were more listed in 2024 than 2023 – 202 in 2024 compared to 179 in 2023. The math doesn’t work in the Franklin County market. This is a decrease of 12.8% in the number of sales. One theory I have is that for a long time, people couldn’t find a house in Chittenden County and traveled farther out for a better price and more inventory. But inventory increased in Chittenden County and interest rates went down, so more people bought in Chittenden County than in Franklin. Just a theory.
The median sales price in 2024 was $380,000 compared to $369,900 for an increase of 2.7%. This is less than sellers like to see, but Franklin County has always had a lower increase percentage than Chittenden. The median days on market for a seller to accept an offer showed a large increase – 12 days in 2024 compared to 7 in 2023. Still, not a long time to accept an offer but significant to caution sellers not to overprice their homes.
Sellers in Franklin County received 100.34% of their asking price in 2024 compared to 100.95% which is nearly the same increase. Sellers are pricing their homes closer to what the market is indicating compared to a low price with wild overbidding by multiple buyers. I think this trend will continue.
I looked at whether there was a trend in the second quarter compared to the third. In Q2, the Chittenden County median sales price in 2024 was $578,000 and the median sales price in 2023 was $486,000. These numbers are almost identical to the ones from Q3 above. To me, that means a bit of a slowdown in the market and something to watch. There is still a good appreciation seen year-over-year in Chittenden County, but we will want to see what Q4 brings and an analysis of all of 2024 compared to 2023.
