Rising interest rates result in RE anxiety

BOULDER — Rising interest rates and continued inventory shortages in the marketplace are causing anxiety among real estate brokers and home buyers, but the fundamentals of the market remain strong, according to John Covert, who is a keynote speaker at the upcoming Boulder Valley Real Estate Conference.

Covert, the senior director, west region, for MetroStudy, said in an interview with BizWest that market turbulence will be among the issues he addresses in his address on Nov. 15.

“From a systematic standpoint, job growth, in-migration to the region, demand for housing — they’re all trending in the way that we’d like them to. Rising home prices along with rising interest rates are problematic. I’ll focus on what the impact of that is on the new home-building market,” he said.

“Secondarily, I’ll focus on the strength of the market, namely first-time buyers, millennials, the younger market, which is strong and growing,” he said.

Covert said he would highlight projects and product types in the market that are doing well, which might be resulting from their locations or design features.

As Covert has noted at previous presentations in the region, MetroStudy has seen no improvement in the number of lots available for building. Because of the shortage of buildable lots, prices for land, especially in the Boulder area, are challenging, he said.

Covert’s presentation will be during lunch of the real estate conference. The Nov. 15 conference begins at 8 a.m. with registration at the Embassy Suites Boulder, 2601 Canyon Blvd. Tickets are $74.49 until Nov. 11 and can be purchased here.