Coldwell Banker Hickok & Boardman Realty's industry-leading marketing department has just released it's early 2017 Northwest Vermont Market Report. Follow the link below for information on the local real estate market, current inventory, and projections for the rest of 2017 and as always, reach out to the LipVT team with any questions about buying or selling.
CBHB's Early 2017 Northwest Vermont Market Report.
American voters were busy last week. Barraged by the drone of political noisemaking from people hoping to President, one can understand how the public might have missed big news in housing released by the current President’s administration. And it couldn’t be more relevant to Burlington.
The Obama Administration rolled out its “Housing Development Toolkit” which, as Curbed writer Alissa Walker summed, outlines “…successful methods for bringing housing back into American cities.”
The release coincided with an editorial in the San Francisco Chronicle and an essay on Medium from White House Policy Council director Cecilia Munoz laying out the purpose and goals of the toolkit.
Munoz outlines the nuts and bolts of the toolkit but also opines on just what got us into the affordability crisis in so many communities:
“The American people have built an economy with stronger ladders of opportunity for all families to prosper. But despite these gains, too many of the communities with the most dynamic growth have pulled up those ladders behind them — often unintentionally — by creating conditions that make it impossible for families to find affordable housing in the same communities where they can find jobs. By allowing local rules that inhibit new housing development to accumulate, too many communities have limited their supply of housing over the last few decades in a way that undercuts economic mobility.”
Some more timely and tangible aspects of the toolkit include recommendations for the removal of off-street parking requirements for new development, allowing accessory dwelling units, and enacting high-density and multi-family zoning.
Read Alissa Walker’s excellent Curbed piece
Cecila Munoz on Medium “When Communities Pull Up the Ladder of Opportunity”
City Market/Onion River Co-Op held an open forum on its planned expansion to the South End and the event was well-attended to say the least. The forum, held last week at Switchback Brewing's Tap Room, was packed with over 75 community members. The new store location, at the corner of Briggs Street and Flynn Avenue is expected to change the face of the neighborhood. Neighbors disagree on the long-term benefits of that change. Several cited concerns about traffic while others lauded the convenience of a second location for the nation's busiest co-op.
Read the full story from The Burlington Free Press' Joel Banner Baird here
Reach out to the Lipvt.com team with any questions or help with your real estate needs
(Pictured above, Burlington Assessor John Vickery)
A group of Burlington Landlords continue to fight the city assessor's office on a tax increase the landlords say will result in higher rents. VTDigger's Morgan True, in his March 23rd article, lays out both sides of the argument. The city says the properties in question are significantly under-assessed, resulting in lost tax revenue. The landlords argue that significant tax increases will make it challenging to operate their businesses profitably, resulting in sharply higher rents.
Read the full piece from VTDigger here
Reach out to the LipVT team if you have any real estate needs or questions.