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 2023.
Click below to read our individual town market reports:
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 sold or had under contract over $150 million again in 2023 and assisted over 175 buyers and sellers in sold/closed transactions. The firm also represented over forty (40) buyers and sellers of properties sold/closed at prices over $1 million, including chart-topping sales in Woodstock ($8.0 million), Barnard ($3.7 million), Hartford ($1.7 million), West Windsor ($1.445 million), and numerous other top sales in Hanover, Lyme, and Norwich. 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 171 sold/closed transactions of single-family homes in 2022, down from 215 sales in 2022. Despite total sales coming down from record levels over the last several years, the average price of sold/closed homes remains at record highs in many of the Greater Woodstock area towns, with the average price of all towns combined hitting a record $894,261. To put this in perspective, the average price of GWA homes has more than doubled since pre-pandemic when the average price was just $424,000 in 2019. And, for the second consecutive year, in Woodstock alone the average price for sold/closed single-family homes was over the $1 million dollar threshold.
Of the 171 homes sold in the GWA, buyers paid on average at or above a seller’s asking price in 84 of the transactions.
Buying activity in the luxury market in the Greater Woodstock market area was again strong in 2023, with a record-tying forty-three (43) sales of homes over $1 million. Snyder Donegan represented nearly half / nineteen (19) of the buyers and/or sellers of the luxury properties sold in the Woodstock area and was pleased to represent the buyers in the highest priced sales in Woodstock (1862 Long Hill Road - $8 million), Barnard (1484 Bowman Road - $3.7 million), and West Windsor (3482 Hartland Brownsville Road - $1.445 million).
While inventory remains at a premium after years of unprecedented buying activity, data and market trends seem to be pointing to a steady rebuild of inventory stores. As of December 31, 2023, there were forty-six (46) actively listed single-family homes in the Greater Woodstock area, up from just twenty-two (22) at the same time in 2021. Of the 46 active listings, however, eighteen (18) were priced over $1 million, with the average price resting at $1,317,648, meaning the market will need an infusion of moderately priced homes to match sustained buyer demand.
GREATER HANOVER-LEBANON MARKET AREA
Overall sales in 2023 in the Greater Hanover-Lebanon market area (Hanover, Hartford, Lebanon, Lyme, Norwich, Plainfield, Strafford) were down slightly from last year’s figures, with 335 sold/closed transactions of single-family homes, likely due to a shortage of inventory more than any other factors. Buyers paid either at or above a seller’s asking price in 200 of the 335 sales that transacted over the year, with the average price of a home rising to a new record of $723,070.
The Greater Hanover-Lebanon market area reached new milestones in luxury sales in 2023, with a record sixty-four (64) sales of homes that sold/closed for $1 million or more, up from 2022’s record of sixty-one (61). The town of Hanover alone registered its highest total of sold/closed luxury homes in history with forty (40). Snyder Donegan was pleased to represent eighteen (18) of the buyers and/or sellers of those luxury properties–10 of which were in Hanover alone–including the highest priced sale in Hartford (1883 Hillside Road - $1.7 million).
With sales totals still elevated in 2023 in comparison to pre-covid levels, inventory of single-family homes continues to fall short of buyer demand. There were just twenty-six (26) single-family homes actively listed in the entire Greater-Hanover market area on December 31, 2023 (average price $862,500), down markedly from the eighty-four (84) available in 2019 and 148 on the market in 2018. As has been the case over the past several years, the GHLA will need to see more listings hit the market, particularly in moderate price ranges, to keep up with a large pool of actively searching buyers.
OUR FORECAST FOR 2024
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Barring unforeseen/exogenous events, we are coming into 2024 optimistic about the real estate market in the Hanover-Woodstock “Upper Valley” area for 2024.
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Mortgage rates have come down a full percentage point from the recent peaks. And if the Fed manages this soft landing after all–no small feat in itself–then rates could continue to come down further. This will not only help buying activity as buyers’ monthly payments on a house purchase would come down, but lower rates will also unlock some “stuck” inventory. A number of sellers have very low interest rates on their current home mortgages and if they move now their monthly payments would skyrocket, meaning they cannot afford to move and are “stuck” owning/staying in their current home. So, the easing of inflation expectations and with it the easing of interest rates will help sellers finally move forward and will create more inventory on the market.
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Generally, the US economy is in good shape. People have jobs and stock prices are high so the demand side of the real estate market should remain solid. All of our agents are working with buyers who are ready/willing/able but cannot find the right property for them. This state of affairs has been the same for nearly two years and continues into 2024.
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As a general backdrop, we remain extremely bullish on the Upper Valley as a market because of climate change and global instability. We have helped MANY buyers who are coming from heat, fire, and water/drought-ravaged states like Texas and California. As these buyers look forward over the next 10-50 years, they realize that they would rather live those years in this special part of New England versus other parts of the country. “Climate Migration” is real and is happening.
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Similarly, with all manner of craziness and violence happening around the country and the world, many people find the simplicity of daily life here–the quietude, the beautiful outdoors, the living in a relatively sparsely populated rural area–to be quite appealing. We don’t think the growing desire for a safe place to live will diminish in 2024 with the coming election and the ongoing violence that is happening around the world.
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If you have been thinking of selling, we encourage you to reach out sooner than later to discuss further. We don’t have the same number of bidding wars going on nor the tsunami of buying that we had in 2020-2022. Buyers still fall in love with this area, for good reason, but are generally keeping their thinking caps on. To achieve the best price vs. time-on-market, sellers again need to follow the standard playbook: 1) Price homes competitively compared to properties that have recently sold. 2) Freshen things up/ take care of any deferred maintenance items. 3) Stage homes, dress up the landscaping curb appeal, and clean out clutter.
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For our buyer clients, the good news is that we are already getting calls for new listings, so we’re confident there will be opportunities to buy good properties in 2024.
Behind a growing team of capable and dedicated agents–we were pleased to welcome two new agents in 2023–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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