Fun Facts April 28, 2023

In Demand

For evidence that the Front Range is a desirable place to live and own real estate, look no further than the average price of our real estate.

According to the National Association of Realtors, the average price of a home in the United States is $486,000.

Compare that to the average price in our major markets:

  • Larimer County = $662,000
  • Weld County = $535,000
  • Metro Denver = $670,000

This means prices along the Front Range are 10% to 38% higher than the National Average.

While interesting, this is not surprising given our employment growth, economic health, and quality of life in our markets versus the Nation as a whole.

Fun Facts December 9, 2022

Way Under

The Nation’s real estate market is significantly under-supplied.According to the most recent research from Freddie Mac, the United States has a housing supply deficit of 3.8 million units.The available inventory today is lower than it has ever been in the last 40 years and is 3.5x lower than the peak of 2008.The reason why available inventory is so low, is the low amount of new home starts that have occurred over the last 15 years.Builders have faced many obstacles trying to keep up with housing demand including supply chain issues, labor supply, land availability, water availability, and stricter approval processes.Fewer new homes were built in the decade ending 2018 than any other decade since the 1960’s.The reality is, the obstacles builders face are unlikely to change significantly in the foreseeable future.Low inventory is likely to persist.An under-supplied market is a key reason leading economists do not expect home prices to crash even while the market cools off.

BlogBuyersFor BuyersFun FactsHousing TrendsMarket News February 12, 2021

Yes is the Answer

It turns out that ‘yes’ is the answer to the most common questions we hear right now about the market…

Do you think more properties will come on the market this Spring?  Yes, the normal pattern in our market is for new listings to be 40% to 70% higher in April versus January.  The peak month for new listings is typically June.

Do you think buyer demand will grow even more as time goes on?  Yes, for two main reasons.  Buyer activity, just like listing activity, increases significantly in the Spring and Summer.  Plus, we expect the economy to open up even more as the COVID vaccine gets rolled out over the course of the year.

Do you think interest rates will go up?  Yes, all of the trusted forecasters and economists expect rates to be slightly higher by the end of the year.  Our own Chief Economist sees rates at 3.07% by year-end.

Do you think prices will keep rising?  Yes, because of the simple economic forces of supply and demand.  Supply is at historic lows.  The number of properties for sale today is roughly 80% below the average.  Demand is being fueled not only by the low-interest rates, but also a rebounding local job market that is poised to rebound even more.  Plus, the new work-from-home dynamic positions the Front Range as a sought after place to live.

BlogFun FactsWindermere Real Estate July 10, 2020

More Homes Needed

The market is in short supply.

 

More homes are needed to fulfill the need to buyer demand.

 

Compared to exactly one year ago, the supply of homes is down:

  • 32.6% in Metro Denver
  • 25.1% in Northern Colorado

An interesting and useful measurement we track is months of inventory.  This stat tells how long it would take to sell all of the homes currently for sale at the current pace of sales.

Of course, months of supply can vary greatly by price range and location.  However, this stat does a good job of explaining the overall state of the market.

Specifically, months of supply tells us if the market is in balance.

A ‘balanced’ market is when there is 4 to 6 months of supply.  A buyers market occurs when the stat is higher than this range.  A sellers market occurs when it is lower.

The months of supply looks like this in our market:

  • 1.0 months in Metro Denver
  • 1.3 months in Northern Colorado

So, the market overall is significantly under-supplied and more homes are needed to meet demand.

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