Residential market looks to slow in ’97

Northern Colorado’s smaller communities will ride an even bigger wave of popularity this year with residential home builders and buyers.

From Wellington to Kersey, Johnstown to Dacono, Windsor to Ault and several others in between, lower land prices and receptive politics likely will generate big business in small towns.

Although the overall housing growth is expected to slow somewhat — to 3 percent down from the 7 percent or 8 percent of recent history — experts say the growth that will occur still indicates a healthy residential market.

“I think it will be a good year for the smaller towns,´ said Bruce Gillam of Gillam Development Corp. in Johnstown. “I don’t think a little backpedaling in the percentages will bother us.”

Gillam is developing Rolling Hills Ranch, a project that at completion could double the size of Johnstown. Planned to contain more than 550 homes, it will include patio homes, town homes, estate lots and single-family residential products.

Larry Naggatz of Coldwell Banker Plains Real Estate Inc. in Greeley said residential sales in Weld County were up 26 percent last year over 1995.

“I think the first half of ’97 will be good,” he said, noting that it’s a little difficult to speculate beyond that. “I do feel that there’s more houses available than a year ago.”

Indeed, several agents say buyers have a lot more product from which to chose than they did a couple of years ago. And that means the frenzied bidding for homes likely won’t occur again for a while.

In Fort Collins, new construction in the $200,000 and over range has slowed significantly.

“We over-built in the $200,000 and up last year,´ said David Pettigrew of Prudential Prime Properties in Fort Collins. “There’s very little speculative building in that range now.”

Multifamily construction should flourish in Fort Collins, though. It’s one area where first-time buyers can afford to enter the market.

Like Naggatz, Pettigrew notes that residential activity now benefits the buyer.

“There’s too many homes on the market now,” he said. “The buyer has more choices.”

As for the surplus of higher-end new construction, that will correct itself and “then we’ll be back into a steady market.”

Another benefit to this year’s housing market is that interest rates are expected to stay low. Still, average prices of homes are climbing. In Weld County, Naggatz said, they went from $115,032 in 1995 to $123,825 last year.

Gus Williams of Coldwell Banker Everitt & Williams in Fort Collins said his office saw their average sale prices go from $147,000 in 1995 to $154,000 last year.

“The new-home market will slow down,” he said, “and prices will stabilize. Nothing is going to pull the reins in, but we will see some slower growth.”