Mud Season Snapshot of Local Real Estate Market

March 24, 2010

Not much is new in my world . . . it’s mud season, a time when business is traditionally slow and tourists and vacation-home buyers are wisely off visiting sunnier, greener and southern climates. I’ll be joining them myself in a few weeks!

In the general area we service, there are 31 new residential listings since March 1^st ranging from a large European-style post and beam beauty with a pristine pond and extraordinary mountain views on 25 acres in Dorset listed for $2.35 million to a cute and affordable “starter home” in a nice neighborhood of Chester listed for $145,000. The quality and depth of our inventory is excellent and there’s a little bit of everything on the market now. There aren’t many “bargains” to be had, but there are lots of good values and houses in every price range seem to be selling. Slowly. But, the good news is that things are moving again!

In that same time period (since March 1^st), 11 properties have transferred.

Five of the 11 had been reduced in price at least once since the original listing and, on average they sold for 85% of the original asking price and 93% of the revised asking price. The average Days on Market was 286, which is typical for this area but, still, a long long time and longer than most sellers (or their agents!) want a property to be on the market.

I’m not sure this snapshot tells a story, but it will be interesting to check in now and again to see how this month’s activity compares to future months. Stop back and see . . .

Another US Open Snowboarding Weekend Has Come and Gone

Another US Open Snowboarding weekend has come and gone and . . . from what I can tell . . . everyone is alive & well and rested & relaxed after a fabulous week of sun and fun. It was the proverbial perfect storm for a successful event - ideal sunny warm weather, lots of snow, school vacation week (for colleges on the trimester system and private schools) . . . and, best of all, there were appearances by most of the US's snowboarding team's 2010 Olympians and medal winners including Shaun White, Kelly Clark, Hannah Teter, and Louie Vito!

Saturday's events capped a week of almost perfect March spring weather. Temps hoovered in the high 50's and even hit the mid-60's a couple of times throughout the week. Stratton hosted tens of thousands of skiers and boarders and, from all reports, everything seems to have been a success.

As a volunteer with the local rescue service and ambulance, I see things slightly differently than the average attendee! Having tens of thousands of visitors partying their way around southern Vermont is often a recipe for disaster. Past years have been mostly tame with a few exceptions. Indeed, I think most folks were exceptionally well-behaved this year. I did "enjoy" my first all-nighter in years as a result of a busy rescue week/weekend, and I'm still recovering from lack of sleep. Recovery takes longer and longer as we get older!

In addition to being on duty two other nights during the week, and having to stand-by at a structure fire on the mountain earlier in the week (everyone was fine and I'm pretty sure the condo was "saved" with the exception of smoke and water damage), my crew and I had the dubious honor of pulling the Friday night shift for the US Open weekend. While I can't share any details, I can tell you that our shift started with a two-fer call (two patients) to Stratton at 5:15 PM Friday afternoon and ended with a call that brought us back to the squad building a little after 7:00 AM Saturday morning. In all, we transported five times to three different hospitals in the 14 hours we were out.

So, another US Open has successfully come to an end. Fans of all ages were happily entertained, and we all wrapped up the weekend with a little sun on our faces and a love for Vermont in our hearts!

Mud Season Has Arrived!

We’ve had a string of perfect spring days and I for one have a touch of spring fever! The sun is shining, there’s not a cloud in the sky and I think we might hit the mid- to high 50s this afternoon. On top of all this, it’s St. Patrick’s Day, so I’m feeling green and cheerful – like a little leprechaun has taken over my brain and body.

This is the time of year when there is a confluence of events and seasonal signs that make this one of the most enjoyable and the most miserable mini-seasons for us local folks.

• Cold nights and warm days mean the sap is running and that means maple syrup isn’t far behind. Steam rising from the sugar shacks in the woods and along the road always put a smile on my face!
• Spring skiing! Need I say more? Spring skiing means we get to work on our tans – at least from the neck up and, if we’re lucky, our forearms! Spring skiing means some of us spend more time on the deck t the base lodge visiting with friends and enjoying a cold one than we do on the slopes. Spring skiing really means that spring is around the corner and within sight.
• Cold nights and warm days also mean the roads are one step away from an official mud bog course and savvy drivers purposely drive miles out of their way to avoid certain roads rather than risk ending up in knee-deep mud up to the under-carriage of their cars requiring a tow from a friendly neighbor and a chastising from the automobile mechanic who stated that my car was among the worst he’d seen that year (that’s another story)!

As we travel south out of the mountain towns to Manchester and beyond or north toward Rutland, we notice there is little if any snow. Here in the mountains we still have feet upon feet of the white stuff. We watch miserably as folks in thse towns get to start raking lawns, putting their driveway’s gravel back in their driveways, and clearing broken tree branches. We, however, still have snow up to our eyeballs. The snow banks are gray and ugly and we still have months before yard care is on our to-do lists.

A friend posted on her facebook page last night that the warm days are making her think of sitting on the porch and watching the world go by with a G&T in hand and a smile on the face. Porch-sitting, cocktail in hand, is one of my favorite pastimes. My porch is a little far from the road, but I can still watch the comings and goings of our rural “neighborhood. I have noticed a decided change in traffic patterns as people go the “long way ‘round” from Peru and Manchester to Weston rather than cut through Landgrove. Must be the mud roads they’re hoping to avoid.