Comparing February 2023 to February 2022

Here, we’ll look at condos and single-family homes together and analyze the market making a year-over-year comparison. This month we are focusing on February in Chittenden County only, as it has the greatest number of transactions in one month compared to Grand Isle or Franklin County.

With all the talk about a shift in the real estate market, Chittenden County is still showing a reduction in the number of homes listed, an increase in average and median sales prices, and a decrease in the number of homes sold. We did see an increase in the average and median days on the market, meaning sellers had to wait longer to get their homes under deposit. Sellers in 2022 accepted a higher percentage over asking on average than in 2023.

The number of homes listed decreased 24.5% from 122 in 2022 to 63 in 2023. Compare that to 2019 when there were 140 single-family homes and condos listed! The number of homes sold decreased from 73 in 2022 to 63 in 2023. Not a huge reduction compared to the overall decrease in homes listed.

The average sales price in 2022 was $465,023 compared to $548,413 in 2023 for an increase of 18%. The median price rose from $390,000 in 2022 to $435,000 in 2023 for an increase of 11.5%. One high priced home can affect the average sales price. Therefore, we prefer to look at the median price. 

The median days on market increased from 4 days in 2022 to 14 days in 2023. Four days to get a contract! The average in 2022 was 17 days and the average in 2023 was 43. We must remember that new builds affect the average days on market. We therefore look at the median days on market as more valuable data. 

Interestingly, sellers received 103.45% of their asking price in 2022 likely due to multiple offers driving up the price compared to 100.43% in 2023. We can speculate on why homes are going for only a bit over asking in 2023 - my thoughts are that sellers priced their homes more in line with the true market this year. It is also possible that sellers started higher and had to lower their price from their starting price. 

Next month when we look at the first quarter of 2023 and compare it to 2022, I believe we will see a pattern emerge that continues to show a seller’s market with low inventory and an increase in the sales price. At the very least, we will have more data to analyze which will give us a more accurate look at the market for 2023.