FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Record low inventory and consistent sales

outweigh bump in new listings across Colorado’s housing market

https://coloradorealtors.com/market-trends/

Key findings from the February 2017 research report include:

• 30 percent increase in new statewide listings offset by strong sales and record low inventory

• Statewide inventory down nearly 40 percent from one year ago

• Active listings down 8 percent across the state from January to February 2017 and remain at historic lows

• Median sales price for single-family and condominium/townhomes across the state rose 2.6 percent and 1.6 percent, respectively

• Denver Metro area has 50 percent fewer active listings than one year ago

• Denver Metro area has just over one-month inventory supply for single-family homes and less than one month supply for condos/townhomes

ENGLEWOOD, Colo. – March 10, 2017 – Despite a nearly 30 percent increase in new single-family and townhome/condominium listings from January to February 2017, Colorado’s housing market continues to battle record low inventory, according to the latest statewide housing report from the Colorado Association of REALTORS^® (CAR).

The addition of 7,099 single-family listings and 2,228 new townhome/condominium listings, of which more than half were in the Denver-metro region, was matched by consistent statewide sales resulting in an 8 percent dip in the total inventory of active listings from January to February 2017.

Statewide New Listings                                                                   

Active Listings Statewide

With just over 16,000 active listings across the state, the monthly supply of housing inventory dropped once again in February to 1.7 months supply.

The inventory supply is down nearly 40 percent from one year ago and sits at its lowest point in the seven-year history of CAR’s statewide monthly reports.

Months Supply of Statewide Inventory (balanced markets range from 4-7 months supply)

Low inventory and continued strong housing demand once again contributed to a small bump in the median price of a Colorado home in February 2017 at $319,900, up nearly $5,000 from January. Single-family homes across the state were up 2.6 percent in February to a median sales price of $341,000, while the median sales price of townhouses/condominiums rose 1.6 percent from a month prior to $253,000, according to the CAR market trends research.

Statewide Media Sales Price

The continued decrease in inventory supply was felt across the state with the Metro Denver market sitting at just over one-month of inventory (1.2) for single-family homes, and condominium/townhouse inventory below a one-month supply (0.8).

Sold listings across the state dipped just over 7 percent for single-family homes but rose just over 2 percent for townhome/condominiums keeping the market strong enough to absorb a big portion of the new and active listings.

Sold Listings Statewide

The limited number of active listings had little impact on the average number of days that for sale homes stay on the market (DOM). The DOM average decreased one day for both single-family homes in February to 62 days, 51 days for condominium/townhomes.

Here are a few quotes about the most recent housing market conditions from Colorado Association of REALTOR^® research spokespersons representing regional markets:

“In the Northeast region, we are still operating with historically low inventory.  Many homeowners are choosing to remodel over moving.  The first time buyer population is growing and the sales of our most affordable homes (under $900,000 in Boulder and under $500,000 in Boulder county) are moving at an alarmingly fast pace, with days on the market under 30 days, sometimes just 2-3 days,” said Boulder-area REALTOR^® Kelly Moye.

“While it’s encouraging to see new listing numbers up slightly, those properties are being swooped off the market as fast as they come on, so overall inventory remains low in the metro area and state as a whole.  Active buyers in the marketplace found something to purchase in February, as under contract numbers were substantially up and that should result in an improvement in the total number of sales for upcoming March data. We saw total sales down in February for both the state and Denver metro area which is definitely a result of the lack of inventory to purchase back in January when our inventory was at a record low,” said Denver-area REALTOR^® Karen Levine.

“In the month of February 2017, for the first time, the ‘average price’ of single family-patio homes sold in El Paso County crossed the threshold of $300,000 however, the year-to-date sales are down 10 percent. During the past few years, the sale of homes priced over $2 million has been extremely scarce. However, last month two homes sold priced over $2 million,” said Colorado Springs REALTOR^® Jay Gupta.

“Mountain markets seem stronger this year for January and February. Telluride’s market was up 30 percent in January year-over-year and up 30 percent in February in total sales dollars. Total sales were also up about 20 percent for both January and February. Mountain markets steadily reducing inventory which is much slower to replace than in more traditional markets due to longer governmental processes and construction periods. Hence, we see a steady increase in prices at most all price points,” said REALTOR^® George Harvey from Telluride, Colorado.

The Colorado Association of REALTORS® Monthly Market Statistical Reports are prepared by Showing Time, a leading showing software and market stats service provider to the residential real estate industry, and are based upon data provided by Multiple Listing Services (MLS) in Colorado.  The February 2017 reports represent all MLS-listed residential real estate transactions in the state.  The metrics do not include “For Sale by Owner” transactions or all new construction.

The complete reports cited in this press release, as well as regional reports specific to the Denver Metro, Mountain, Northeast, Northwest, Southeast and Southwest markets are available online at: https://coloradorealtors.com/market-trends/

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CAR/SHOWING TIME RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

The Colorado Association of REALTORS® (CAR) Monthly Market Statistical Reports are prepared by Showing Time, a Minneapolis-based real estate technology company, and are based on data provided by Multiple Listing Services (MLS) in Colorado. These reports represent all MLS-listed residential real estate transactions in the state. The metrics do not include “For Sale by Owner” transactions or all new construction. Showing Time uses its extensive resources and experience to scrub and validate the data before producing these reports.

The benefits of using MLS data (rather than Assessor Data or other sources) are:

Accuracy and Timeliness – MLS data are managed and monitored carefully.

Richness – MLS data can be segmented

Comprehensiveness – No sampling is involved; all transactions are included.

Oversight and Governance – MLS providers are accountable for the integrity of their systems.

Trends and changes are reliable due to the large number of records used in each report.

Late entries and status changes are accounted for as the historic record is updated each quarter.

KEY METRICS GLOSSARY

New Listings –This is a measure of how much new supply is coming onto the market from sellers. For example, Q3 New Listings are those listings with a system list date from July 1 through September 30.

Pending/Under Contract – This is the most real-time measure possible for homebuyer activity, as it measures signed contracts on sales rather than the actual closed sale. As such, it is called a “leading indicator” of buyer demand.

Sold Listings – This measures how many home sales were actually closed to completion during the report period.

Median Sales Price – This is a basic measurement of home values in a market area and basically states that 50 percent of the homes sold were either higher or lower than the Median Sales Price.

Average Sales Price – This is another basic measurement of home values in a market.

Percent of List Price Received – The mathematical calculation of the percent difference from the list price and the sold price for those listings sold in the reported period.

Days on Market – A way to measure how long it is taking homes to sell.

Affordability – Uses median sales price, prevailing interest rates and average income to measure local housing affordability. A higher number is usually interpreted as greater housing affordability.

The Colorado Association of REALTORS® is the state’s largest real estate trade association representing more than 23,000 members statewide. The association supports private property rights, equal housing opportunities and is the “Voice of Real Estate” in Colorado. For more information, visit https://coloradorealtors.com.