October 16, 2015 6:00:41 am

What’s Normal?

By Eric Thompson

If it’s one thing I’ve learned in my 21-year career, it’s there’s no such thing as “normal.” There is no “normal” transaction and there certainly is no “normal” market. There are always traits and nuances that make every market different than the last one. Gosh, this week’s market is different than last week! That being said, there are some numbers that jump out at me which tell me that today’s market is very unique. Let’s look at a few of those.

First, there’s only 2.5 months of inventory. That means, at the current pace of sales, it would only take 2.5 months to sell all the homes for sale. A balanced market is 6 months! Because our inventory is so low, prices are accelerating faster than normal. Long-term price growth in our region averages near 5% per year. Prices are growing at over double that rate in 2015.

The other number that jumps out at me that makes today so different is interest rates. To put today’s 4% rate in context, consider that it is nearly half of the long-term 30-year average.

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Save the date for the 2016 Windermere Real Estate Forecast, January 21st at the Marriott in Fort Collins. 5:30 to 7:00 pm. RSVP to 970-460-3033 or fortcollins@windermere.com.