Colorado Springs Home Sales Fall Again in July, but Experts Say Market Remains Strong

Home sales totaled 1,592 in July, a 3.3 percent drop from the same month last year, says the latest report by the Pikes Peak Association of REALTORS®. Monthly home sales haven’t increased on a year-over-year basis since February.

Through the first seven months of 2018, home sales totaled 9,296, a slight, 0.1 percent gain over the same period last year, the REALTORS® Association report showed.

Monthly home sales are being held back, in part, because of a lack of listings, some agents have said. The supply of area homes for sale totaled 2,385 in July, according to the REALTORS® Association report. That’s up by 0.8 percent from the same month a year ago, yet well below July inventories that historically have topped 3,000.

“There are some folks that aren’t putting their homes on the market because they’re not sure that what they want to move into is out there,” said Debbie Howes, a real estate agent with RE/MAX Performance in Woodland Park and this year’s REALTORS® Association Board Chairwoman.

July’s decline in sales also is a bit of a statistical anomaly. This year’s numbers are being compared with 2017, when annual sales hit a record. So while July’s home sales were down on a year-over-year basis, they actually were higher than every other July over the past 25 years, REALTORS® Association records show.

“We’re still seeing our normal seasonal market,” Howes said. “Your summer season is the highest on sales, and then it will scoot down into fall and level off during the holidays.”

Another sign local housing remains strong: homes averaged about three weeks — 22 days — on the market in July before selling. Three years ago, homes spent an average of 72 days on the market before selling, about 2½ months, according to REALTORS® Association figures.

The monthly reports by the REALTORS® Association compile sales transactions handled by its members, and not homes sold by individual owners. Most of the homes sold — about 90 percent — took place in El Paso County.

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