Comparing July of 2023 to July of 2022
Let’s begin by talking about last year. In July of 2022 there were 168 single family homes and/or condos listed and 161 sold in Chittenden County. On the surface, one might think that the 161 properties sold were a portion of the 168 properties listed, but we can’t forget that the sold properties went under deposit prior to July.
Those numbers from 2022 become an interesting statistic when you look at July of 2023. This year, 161 homes were listed and only 139 sold in July. That means about 14% fewer homes sold than were listed in July of 2023. In July of 2022, it was nearly even.
This all seemed very curious to me, so I looked at June of this year to get some perspective. June had 195 new listings and 166 properties sold for 15% fewer sold than listed. About the same as July. Many of the closings in July were likely under contract in June or May. Which brings us to May of 2023. There were 221 new listings in May and 133 homes sold. This means that there were 40% fewer homes sold than listed. Quite a variation.
I looked back further and based on what I found, I would say that May was an outlier. I think we can expect a solid number of sales in August if the two-month trend continues. But compared to last year, we are still down by quite a fair number of sales year-over-year due to continued low inventory.
The median sales price is continuing to rise. I speculate the reason is the large number of new homes being built. We know that material and employment costs are up, making new construction very expensive. These higher priced homes could account for the rise in the median sales price from $450,000 in 2022 to $500,000 in 2023.
We think inventory continues to be low because sellers are reluctant to sell and lose their 2.5% or low 3% mortgage rates. We predict that when rates go down a bit, we might see more homes come on the market. We continue to see multiple offers on properties that are priced correctly. That trend is also likely to continue until the inventory increases.
