http://www.trulia.com/voices/Market_Conditions/can_trends_be_viewed_over_longer_time_frames_-100656en-ushttp://www.trulia.com/voices/profile/Real_Estate_Pro-Brattleboro_VT-229045/http://www.trulia.com/voices/profile/Real_Estate_Pro-Brattleboro_VT-229045/Kurt, The answer to your question actually depends on the reason that you asked it. Are you asking as far as the appraisal process or are you asking as an investor looking to capitalize or are you asking as a first time home buyer hoping to buy, but currently priced out of the market. Depending on what information you want, there are ways of trying to find it, but there are some limits. Appraisers are limited as to how far back they can go when researching comparable properties for their values. For the other reasons, it is a matter of pulling all of the information available and seeing where it leads you. Right now the market is incredibly local and very specific to types of properties. Looking in the Norwich area, there is some market information going back to 1997 in the MLS systems. You could try to use that information to look at trends and make predictions from there, however, the thing about Vermont is that there are 2 different MLS systems that currently service the state and at least 1 that is no longer in existence. If you were to look at the trends, you may have gaps in your knowledge that you wouldn't know was there. Also, this market is a bit difficult to read. There are houses going on the market and under contract within days and other properties are sitting on the market for years without selling. In either case, the houses were priced appropriately and marketed effectively. We are coming out of a couple years that didn't figure into anyone's idea of what real estate was going to do and depending on who you talk to, it is in a free fall or it is on the rise. So, yes, the trends can be viewed over longer time frames, but considering the current economic climate, I don't know if you will find anything that is going to give you an indication as to what my happen in the next few months or even the next year or so. Good luck.Thu, 19 Mar 2009 08:24:14 -0700