Welcome to the Smith Macdonald Report, our examination of the 1st three months of the Waterbury VT residential and land real estate market. This report uses market-wide data based on transactions that closed in the first three months of 2014 and compares them to closings that took place during the first three months of 2013. Closings usually occur four-to-eight weeks after a contract is signed for that reason, the sales activity charted here reflects transactions that closed during and through the end of the 1st Quarter, and does not include contracts signed that have not closed.
Further evidence of the Waterbury residential market continuing to be a tight one was highlighted by the consistent amount of low inventory seen there. Residential sales increased a small amount. Although the median price increased 23%, the average slipped 28%. Land sales in Waterbury increased slightly as well; and as seen in all other categories, inventory dropped there too - 21%. A decrease in inventory is a trend we are watching which could eventually lead to an uptick in pricing, as has been seen in other parts of the country. Our market, in general, usually trends behind other markets, particularly areas with larger populations and demographics.