Real Estate & Construction  October 19, 2017

Metrostudy predicts another year of housing start increases

FORT COLLINS — Metrostudy, the Denver-based company that tracks residential real estate markets, predicts a 5 percent to 8 percent increase in residential housing starts in 2018 in the region encompassed by Larimer and Weld counties.

John Covert, director of Metrostudy’s Colorado-New Mexico region, told Realtors and developers at the annual Everitt Center Real Estate Conference Tuesday at Colorado State University that the region suffers from several market impediments, but the demand is great enough to increase housing starts in the new year.

Covert said housing starts so far this year are up 10 percent but closings are flat. He said 4,600 homes were started through three quarters of 2017 and he expects the year to end with about 4,800 starts. That will be the highest number of starts in 11 years, he said.

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One of the impediments to the market is the number of buildable lots. Weld County has 14.6 months of lots available at the current rate of use. Larimer has 14 months. Almost every county along the Front Range has a shortage of lots, Covert said.

Another impediment is the lack of construction workers, which slows progress on building sites. Normally, it might take three months to build a house. Now, the average is more like seven or eight months.

These factors and others, coupled with in-migration that is far exceeding the supply of housing, are driving up prices. With housing prices averaging $545,000 in Denver, and much higher than that in Boulder County, people are migrating north, Covert said.

 

FORT COLLINS — Metrostudy, the Denver-based company that tracks residential real estate markets, predicts a 5 percent to 8 percent increase in residential housing starts in 2018 in the region encompassed by Larimer and Weld counties.

John Covert, director of Metrostudy’s Colorado-New Mexico region, told Realtors and developers at the annual Everitt Center Real Estate Conference Tuesday at Colorado State University that the region suffers from several market impediments, but the demand is great enough to increase housing starts in the new year.

Covert said housing starts so far this year are up 10 percent but…

Ken Amundson
Ken Amundson is managing editor of BizWest. He has lived in Loveland and reported on issues in the region since 1987. Prior to Colorado, he reported and edited for news organizations in Minnesota and Iowa. He's a parent of two and grandparent of four, all of whom make their homes on the Front Range. A news junkie at heart, he also enjoys competitive sports, especially the Rapids.
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