Colorado real estate markets to vary locally in 2019

Despite market trend predictions from experts and economists of a possible downward shift in real estate in 2019, the Colorado Association of REALTORS® doesn’t expect that to be the case for all of Colorado.

While there was an increase in listings statewide in the second half of 2018, new listings went down in December with 3,868, down 36.5 percent from the 6,095 listings that hit the market in November.

The region’s real estate industry faced a “difficult” year in 2018, according to Colorado Springs-area REALTOR® Patrick Muldoon.

“Both REALTORS® and lenders were trying to figure out what the market may do quarter to quarter and many of us found it to be frustrating to figure out how buyers’ and sellers’ moods were swinging at any given time,” he said in the association’s release. “Mixed national economic news followed.”

Meanwhile, mortgage interest rates recently dropped to a 12-month low, Muldoon said, adding that’s reviving interest from buyers.

“It appeared that December would see the Fed raise interest rates, and it did, which actually pushed interest rates down for homebuyers,” he said. “We now enter 2019 with great rates and it’s a great time for buyers to take advantage of the low rates,” he said in the release, adding 312,000 jobs were added to the national economy and “crushed experts’ expectations. The Fed seems to be sitting still on future interest rate hikes.”

To read the full article, please visit the Colorado Springs Business Journal by clicking here.