BONNIE GRIDLEY

Bonnie Gridley, of Re/Max North Professionals The Gridley Group in Middlebury, answers our question this week.

What kinds of buyers are looking in Addison County right now? Are they first-time homeowners, second- or third-home owners, young families, retirees… who’s interested in moving to our area?

We have a number of different buyers looking to buy a home in Addison County at this time. They range from families looking to get closer to family and come back to their roots where they were raised or grew up, to parents who are retired looking to have a home closer to their grown children and grandchildren. The market during COVID was favorable to the sellers, with prices rising and extremely low inventory. Since COVID has become more manageable and is now not restricting travel in and out of Vermont, there are employment opportunities here in the county and still very low inventory of housing, both to purchase and to rent. This has restricted some from moving here and accepting employment. Those buyers, who are more flexible with their ability to work from home or remotely, as well as retirees, have the ability to wait for a suitable house to come onto the market.

Due to a number of factors, we still have very low inventory. The most important factors contributing to this are the rising interest rates and the winter conditions as well as the actual low inventory itself. If a seller has a mortgage with an interest rate between 3-4% which had been common just one or two years ago, then they are faced with a new mortgage rate between 6-7% for a new home and the challenge of finding one even available. If they can cash out of their home and trade down to a more affordable smaller one, then inventory is especially low in this part of the market.

I believe as soon as the winter weather abates and we start seeing signs of spring, which should be just around the corner, we will see more inventory coming onto the market. But a word of caution to the buyers who have been looking now for a long time waiting for the market to turn in their favor: The market we will see this year will not be a buyers’ market, but if anything more of a balanced one. So in making offers, be reasonable with your requests and contingencies and expect compromise because until the inventory reaches a level to meet the demand, buyers will not be in the drivers seat. In a more balanced market, which I believe we are moving towards, both parties compromise. So let’s see what spring brings and remember there is no bad time to own real estate.