Northern Vermont, New Hampshire home sales picking up

Home sales in northern Vermont and New Hampshire are beginning to pick up, and some believe the new tax credit for first-time buyers could be playing a part.Andy Smith, owner of Peabody and Smith Realty, which has offices in both states, said when prices are down, activity is up.With low interest rates and low home prices, Smith tells The Caledonian-Record the tax credit is an $8,000 gift to help people buy homes.The Northern New England Real Estate Network says Vermont's Caledonia County saw a 53 percent increase in home sales in the first quarter of this year compared to the first quarter of 2008. Home values are down 13.8 percent in the county.New Hampshire's Coos County saw a 26 percent increase in sales between the same periods, as home prices declined 45.2 percent.Overall, for Grafton and Coos counties in New Hampshire, and for Vermont's Caledonia, Essex and Orleans counties, there was a 5.1 percent increase in sales."We're busier than we've been in the past two years," said Lori Wiggett, Affordable Education, Housing and Development HomeOwnership director in Littleton. She agrees part of increase could be attributed to the $8,000 first-time home buyer tax credit."I know folks in the real estate industry are using that to encourage buyers to get moving now," Wiggett said.Smith said his company is working with four prospective buyers in New Hampshire and three in Vermont who are looking for homes and have identified the tax credit as a key reason.Gerald Winn, owner-broker of Century 21 Winn Associates in Littleton, said he is seeing an increase in interest in buying homes, more because of lower interest rates than because of the credit. The melting snow also is a boost."I think the weather is helping," he said. "Peoples' confidence seems to be perked up quite a bit."