Killington Real Estate Sales – November 2011

Sales in November improved again, marking the best month in volume since May and the highest median sales price since March 2011. There were 8 sales in Killington in November 2011, comprised of a single-family home on Anthony Way and 7 full-0wnership condominium sales. The condo sales included a 1BR Mountain Green at an all-new low price point, a 1BR with loft at Highridge, and a number of larger townhouse style condos, including a 3BR Hemlock Ridge at a deep discount, a 3BR Colony Club at market value, a 3BR Sunrise townhouse style unit, a 3BR Lodges condo at a new low price point, and a Topridge townhouse at market value.

The median sales price in Killington in November 2011 was $218,750. Please click the link below to see all of the real estate sales in Killington in Noveber 2011.

November 2011 Sales

Killington Real Estate Sales – October 2011

As predicted, October showed improvement over recent months, with 6 real estate transactions – the best month since July. Of the 6 sales, three were homes, including a camp with 115 acres, a small two-family on Dean Hill Road and a small chalet on George Street. Two of the sales were condos, including a 3BR Special at Pinnacle and a 3BR at Sunrise. There was also one land sale, a 1.8 acre lot on East Mountain Road, which sold at $35,000 – such an inexplicably low price, there must be some extenuating circumstances, e.g. it was not an arm’s length transaction, maybe the septic permit was no longer valid, etc.

The median sales price in October also rebounded to $190,000. Please click below to view the homes and condominiums that sold in Killington during October 2011.

October 2011 Sales

Killington Real Estate Sales – September 2011

September was a tough month for real estate sales in Vermont – it was a tough month for everyone in Vermont due to the devastating flooding from tropical storm Irene.  But Vermont recovered quickly and once the roads re-opened, Vermont was back in business. While only three real estate transactions closed in Killington in September, demand was strong and showing activity increased dramatically once the roads were passable, which should result in good numbers for October. The September sales included a two-family home on Ives Road, a 3BR quarter-share at the Killington Grand Hotel and a 3BR at Pinnacle.

The median selling price, not including the interval ownership sale, was $182,500, but like last month, with so few sales, this figure is not statistically meaningful. In spite of it being impossible to travel to or from Vermont for most of the month, Killington still mustered up one more sale than in August.

Please click the link below to see the two full-ownership sales that closed in September.

September 2011 Sales

Killington Real Estate Sales – August 2011

I know, I’m still behind on updates, but catching up. From this post, you probably won’t believe that this has been a good year in real estate, but as we get to September and beyond, we’ll make up some ground.

In August of 2011, there were just two real estate transactions in Killington, which is the lowest figure since I’ve been writing this blog. The sales consisted of a small 1BR home, actually more like a 4-season camp, on River Road, which sold for $130,000 and a 2BR Pico condominium, which sold for $102,00. The median selling price dropped from $199,000 in July, to just $116,000 in August, but with so few sales, this is not statistically meaningful.

Please click the link below to see the two properties that sold in July:

August 2011 Sales

Killington Real Estate Sales – July 2011

Oops – a little late with the statistics, but things have actually been very busy in recent months. July was still slow, however, and down a little from June, with just 6 total sales, comprised of 1 single-family home and 5 condominiums. The condos included a 1BR quarter-share at the Killington Grand Hotel, a 1BR Edgemont, a 2BR at The Woods, a 3BR at Pico and a 3BR at Sunrise. Low volume, but a broad range in terms of price, location and size. The single-family home was the shining star for the luxury home market in Killington – a custom log home which sold for $915,000. This sale resulted in a high average sale price for July, but the median also improved over June, moving from $155,500 to $199,000.

Please click the link below to see all the homes and full-ownership condos that sold in July:

July 2011 Sales

Fannie Mae’s Downgrade No Surprise

It’s certainly no mystery to me why Fannie Mae was downgraded by Standard and Poor’s in August 2011. Here’s how badly they just blew a perfectly good real estate transaction:

Fannie Mae owns a foreclosed condominium in Killington, VT. They rejected a full-price offer of $164K for the property, but accepted an offer of $142K by the same purchaser just a couple of weeks later, claiming that this vacation home buyer was an “investor” and therefore ineligible to bid on the property during the first 15 days that the property was on the market – the infamous “First Look Period.”

The buyer, a successful residential mortgage specialist in his home state, selected a Fannie Mae loan product to finance the purchase – the perfect opportunity for Fannie Mae to offset a bad debt with a low risk new loan to a highly qualified borrower. Fannie Mae’s HomePath loan division, however, rejected the loan application from this well-qualified borrower with exceptionally high credit scores, by classifying the condominium project as a condo-hotel, a type of property not eligible for Fannie Mae financing. Anyone with rudimentary knowledge of the condo-hotel concept, would know intuitively that this condo complex is not a condo-hotel. What’s most ironic is that commercial lenders approve conventional loans, which will ultimately be sold to Fannie Mae, for purchases at the very same condominium project all the time. Fannie Mae is clearly committed to bleeding themselves into insolvency – all at the taxpayer’s expense.

If anyone is having difficulty obtaining financing for a condominium in a resort community, you can thank Fannie Mae for that too, as their new underwriting requirements are so ridiculous, that virtually any property that could be rented will not qualify for conventional financing.

It’s too bad the private capital markets haven’t stepped in to take advantage of this exceptional opportunity – they could cherry pick high net worth borrowers with excellent credit scores, able to put 25% down, thereby limiting their risk significantly. Then they could package those high-quality debts into some new marketable derivative, sell them to the big banks who won’t lend money to these low risk borrowers and we all know where that ends up.

Killington Real Estate Sales – June 2011

Real estate dropped off in June with just 7 sales, compared to 15 in May. For year-over-year comparison, sales in May of 2010 totalled just 3. The 7 sales this May included 6 condominiums and 1 single-family home – a short sale at a bargain price. The condo sales included two quarter-share sales at the Killington Grand Hotel, two 1BR Pinnacle condominiums, a 2BR Highridge and a 3BR Sunrise.

Median sales price, exclusive of interval ownership, dropped dramatically from $202,500 in May to $155,500 in June.

Click the link below to see all the homes and full-ownership condos that sold in June 2011:

June 2011 Sales

Killington Real Estate Sales – May 2011

Real estate sales remained strong in May with 15 sales – just one shy of the April peak of 16. For year-over-year comparison, sales in May of 2010 totalled just 6. The 15 sales this May included 9 condominiums, 4 single-family homes and 2 land parcels. The condo sales included 1 quarter-share sale at the Killington Grand Hotel, 2 Highridge units, and one each at Trailside, Pico, Edgemont, The Woods, and Topridge, as well as one condominiumized duplex sale, known locally as a condex.

Median sales price, exclusive of interval ownership, jumped significantly from $187,000 in April to $202,500 in May, driven in part by a pair of slopeside homes in the luxury market segment.

Click the link below to see all the homes and condos that sold in May 2011:

May 2011 Sales

Improved sales volume is a positive sign, but seeing activity across the broader market segments is very encouraging, especially for sellers in the middle and higher priced segments.

Killington Real Estate Sales – April 2011

Real estate sales improved vastly in April with 16 sales – a 100% increase over the 8 sales in March. For year-over-year comparison, sales in April of 2010 totalled 11 . The 16 sales this April included 13 condominiums, 2 single-family homes  and a commercial property. The condo sales included 7 quarter-share sales at the Killington Grand Hotel, 2 Pico condominiums, 1 Glazebrook townhouse, a 1BR Edgemont, a 1BR Fall Line and the second new townhouse sale at The Heights at Killington.

Median sales price, exclusive of interval ownership, dropped again to $187,000, from $225,050 in March, driven by several 1BR sales and a foreclosure in the single-family market segment.

Click the link below to see all the homes and condos that sold in April 2011:

April 2011 Sales

There was also a commercial sale of the former Merrills’ Garage on River Road in Killington:

April 2011 Commercial Sales

Killington Real Estate Sales – March 2011

Real estate sales improved again in March with 8 sales – up from 6 in February. For year-over-year comparison, sales in March of 2010 totalled just 4 . The 8 sales this March included a 1BR Pico, a 1BR Mountain Green, 3 Sunrise condos, a 3BR Trail Creek, a Killington Grand Hotel Quartershare and a 3-family home on Roaring Brook Road. Sunrise continues to show strong demand as one of the few premier ski in/ski out locations in all of Killington.

Median sales price, exclusive of interval ownership and hotel sales, dropped slightly to $225,050, from a high of $246,250 in February.

Click the link below to see all the homes and condos that sold in February 2011:

March 2011 Sales

The 3-family home on Roaring Brook Road was sold to a family member and as a result, does not represent an “arm’s length” transaction, but what a deal if you were the grantee family member:

March 2011 Multi-Family Sales