Dear clients, friends, and neighbors:
We are pleased to share with you our “Snyder Donegan Real Estate Market Report” summarizing real estate market activity in the greater Woodstock, Vermont and Hanover, New Hampshire market area for the full year of 2022.
Click below to read our individual town market reports for the full year of 2022:
We want to take this moment to thank our clients (both loyal and newer clients) for our ongoing success and to express how proud we are of our incredible team of agents who have continued to meet the challenges and opportunities presented by this market. Snyder Donegan completed over $162 million in sold/closed transactions last year, including assisting over 200 buyers and sellers in sold/closed transactions. The firm assisted over forty (40) buyers and sellers of properties sold/closed at prices over $1 million, including a record-setting $6+ million sale in Woodstock, Vermont and the all-time record sale in Hanover, New Hampshire at $5+ million. To our clients and our excellent team of agents, we are truly grateful.
GREATER WOODSTOCK MARKET AREA
The Greater Woodstock market area (Barnard, Bridgewater, Hartland, Plymouth, Pomfret, Quechee, Reading, West Windsor, Woodstock) saw 215 sold/closed transactions of single-family homes in 2022, down roughly 38% from near record sales the previous year. For every individual town in the market save for Bridgewater and Hartland, the average price of sold/closed homes reached record highs, with the average price of all towns combined hitting a record-high $846,707. For perspective, that’s $277,048 above the previous record average price set just last year. In Woodstock alone, the average price for sold/closed single-family homes crossed the $1 million dollar threshold for the first time in history.
Of the 215 homes sold in the GWA, buyers paid on average at or above a seller’s asking price in 126 of the transactions.
Buying activity in the luxury market in the Greater Woodstock market area was stronger than ever in 2022, with a record forty-three (43) sales of homes over $1 million. Snyder Donegan was pleased to represent twenty-five (25) of the buyers and/or sellers of those luxury properties– including the highest priced sales in Barnard (797 North Road –$2.495 million) and West Windsor (4281 Rush Meadow Road –$2.5 million)– underscoring our company’s success with transactions in the luxury market.
Though still down markedly compared to pre-pandemic figures, inventory stores appear to be somewhat on the rise after several years of unparalleled buying activity. As of December 31, 2022, there were fifty-one (51) actively listed single-family homes on the MLS in the Greater Woodstock area, up from just twenty-two (22) at the same time last year. Of the 51 active listings, however, nearly half (25) were priced over $1 million, with the average price resting at $1,702,594.
GREATER HANOVER-LEBANON MARKET AREA
Like the GWA market, overall sales in 2022 in the Greater Hanover-Lebanon market area (Hanover, Hartford, Lebanon, Lyme, Norwich, Plainfield, Strafford) were down from record marks in 2020 (439) and 2021 (401), with 341 sold/closed transactions of single-family homes. Buyers paid either at or above a seller’s asking price in 235 of the 341 sales that transacted over the year, with the average price of a home reaching a record $696,973.
Regarding luxury sales, the Greater Hanover-Lebanon market area saw a record sixty-one (61) sales of homes that sold/closed for $1 million or more, breaking the previous record of fifty-seven (57) set in 2021. The town of Hanover alone notched thirty-nine (39) luxury sales, its highest total in history. Snyder Donegan was pleased to represent nine (9) of the buyers and/or sellers of those luxury properties, including the highest priced sale ever in Hanover (29 Rope Ferry Road –$5.1875 million).
While many of the general figures and trends in Greater Hanover-Lebanon matched that of the GWA in 2022, inventory totals did not experience the same uptick. After several consecutive years of record or higher than average sales, inventory of single-family homes continues to fall well short of buyer demand. There were just twenty-one (21) single-family homes actively listed in the entire Greater-Hanover market area on December 31, 2022, up slightly from the same point in 2021 but still down precipitously from the eighty-four (84) available in 2019 and 148 on the market in 2018. Considering this, the market will need an infusion of new listings to support what we foresee will be sustained buyer demand in 2023.
OUR FORECAST FOR 2023
- The luxury segment of the market continues to be strong. While some have seen their wealth impacted by stock price decline in certain stocks or segments of the stock market, most are still doing very well. The combination of continued geopolitical uncertainty and challenging climate disruptions in other parts of the country and world continue to make this special part of the world very appealing for buyers’ families and their future generations.
- The lower unit volume of real estate sales in 2022 is largely explained by lack of inventory which continues to be tight across most price segments. Though it remains to be seen, we do not predict this will change in 2023 as many potential sellers who had considered selling went ahead and listed and sold over the past 2-3 years so there is little/no backlog of "shadow inventory". Other would-be sellers are now holding tight out of uncertainty as to what/where to buy and price concerns following the sticker shock from the past several years and more recent rise in interest rates. While many expected the surge in purchases during covid to unwind a bit as the pandemic waned, the truth is we are not seeing that happen. If covid escape was in fact an impetus for buying in the area, which we believe in part it was, those who did so have gone on to enmesh themselves into the fabric of our communities, some on a part-time basis and others full time. The ability to work remotely and the availability of high-speed internet is supporting this migration to our wonderful part of the world. Despite the recent buying activity of the past three years, the Upper Valley of Vermont/New Hampshire is still a very well-kept secret.
- Despite the rise in prices and interest rates, there is still considerable demand for moderately priced homes in our area (< $600k). We do not see this changing in 2023, which will continue to support prices in this price segment of the market.
- It will be interesting to watch the market as a whole in regard to pricing over the next year. Prices in general have risen over the last several years and remain high, so it’s uncertain if they will stabilize at these higher levels, continue to rise given buyer demand and lack of inventory, or if they will begin to fluctuate or even come down some. We suspect it will be either the first or second of these possibilities, but time will tell.
- We believe we will see fewer multiple-offer bidding war situations in 2023. We are already seeing the sellers of some listings reducing their asking prices after overestimating the activity of the market, which in some cases will make for more realistic and reasonable prices and a negotiating dynamic between buyers and sellers that is more balanced.
- Barring exogenous events, we believe the luxury segment will continue to remain solid in 2023.
With a growing team of capable and dedicated agents– we were pleased to welcome two new agents in 2022– and another successful year in the books, we are proud to be the leading boutique real estate firm in the region. With new inquiries and additional listings every day, we remain optimistic about the future of the real estate market and excited for what’s to come in the year ahead.
We will be selectively adding one or two more experienced agents in the coming year. Snyder Donegan offers a cordial, professional working environment in a boutique firm with a shared floorday system for new leads, a dedicated marketing support team member, and millions worth of beautiful homes and luxury listings, both publicly (MLS) and privately listed. If you or your team are interested in joining our firm, please contact either of our partners, David Donegan and John Snyder.
Please see the accompanying charts and table for more historical context and data on our market areas.
We thank our many clients who have chosen Snyder Donegan Real Estate Group to represent them in their real estate matters and for helping make Snyder Donegan Real Estate Group the fastest growing real estate firm in the Upper Valley.
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