Housing data

New Vermont Property Transfer Tax (PTT) data shows recent trends in the home sale market have continued in the first half of 2024. During that time, the median sale price of year-round homes increased an additional 5%, compared to the median price of $325,000 in 2023. At the same time, the median length of days a Vermont home is on the market for sale has remained at a historic low point, suggesting demand to buy homes in Vermont remains high despite increasing sale prices. Additionally, new analysis shows that secondary homes account for about a quarter of all Vermont home sales each year.  These datasets, and many others about Vermont’s housing market, are available for free on VHFA’s housingdata.org.  

The median sales price of primary homes sold in Vermont reached $325,000 in 2023, increasing by 5% during that period compared to the prior year, according to recent Vermont Property Transfer Tax (PTT) records. This continues a trend in which no county in Vermont has seen a decline in annual home sale prices since 2019.

Among new homes sold in 2023, the median price statewide increased by 11% relative to the prior year, up to $616,500, according to data from the Multiple Listing Service.     

New data on Vermont’s short-term rental (STR) market now available on HousingData.org shows a continued increase, up to 11,747 homes statewide in September 2023. Additionally, historic data has been added to the site, now displaying monthly figures, starting in October 2014.  

The State of Vermont has renewed funding for the First Generation Homebuyer Program. Originally released as a pilot program in 2022, the program is now widely available and offers eligible homebuyers a $15,000 grant to help with down payment and closing costs. Interested homebuyers can now apply through any local VHFA participating lender (bank, credit union, or mortgage company).

The median sales price of primary homes sold in Vermont continued increasing in the first half of 2023, reaching a median value of $315,000 for homes sold during that period, according to recent Vermont Property Transfer Tax (PTT) records. This continues a trend in which no county in Vermont has seen a decline in annual median home sale price during the period from 2019-2022.

The most recent data available has been added to the Vermont Housing Data website at www.housingdata.org which is managed by VHFA. The updates to the website include the most recent American Community Survey (ACS) 5-year estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau as well as new data from the Multiple Listing Service (MLS), the Vermont Department of Taxes, the National Low Income Housing Coalition’s (NLIHC) Out of Reach report, and more. The data available on HousingData.org provide a variety of visualization for housing indicators in every town and county in Vermont. This data can be used to help identify housing trends and need within the community for everyone from lawmakers to nonprofits and local governments. 

Earlier this year VHFA projected a need for 30,000-40,000 more homes by 2030. These projections are based on data from the U.S. Census Bureau and from the Vermont Point-In-Time Count of people experiencing homelessness.They are also based on common assumptions about the drivers of Vermont’s housing needs, such as the ideal vacancy rate among the state’s housing stock.  

According to the Census Bureau's 2020 count, 17,336 more people and 15,448 more households considered Vermont their primary home than in 2010, despite earlier predictions of near zero growth in the statewide tally. This was almost certainly the result of the COVID-19 pandemic that abruptly shifted the way we lived and worked in 2020. 

Increasing mortgage interest rates and home prices have rapidly made it much more difficult for Vermonters to purchase their first homes. About half as many renters can afford to purchase their first home in 2022 compared to 2021, based on VHFA’s recent analysis of sales price and interest rate trends.

National mortgage interest rates rose substantially from 2021 to 2022. The 30-year mortgage interest rate increased from 2.74% in January 2021 to 5.52% in June 2022. Meanwhile, Vermont’s home prices were also rising. The median primary home sold for $259,900 in January through June 2021, increasing to $295,000 in 2022.

The median Vermont primary home sold for $295,000 throughout the first six months of 2022, compared to $270,000 throughout 2021, a 9.3 percent increase for the first half of the year. The median single family non-vacation home sold for $300,000, the median condominium sold for $286,250 and the median manufactured home sold for $130,000.