Houses for sale in state decline by 50%

Trends in the Colorado housing market continue following year-over-year patterns, but the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted inventory. While more homes are being snatched up, they come with higher price tags for middle-of-the-road properties and fewer listings to choose from.

According to the Colorado Association of Realtors’ August market report, pending and under contract properties are up by 40% compared to August last year. Statewide, CAR reported that 11,621 single-family homes and 3,759 townhomes and condos were under contract last month. CAR referred to August’s properties under contract as setting a record high.

But prices are also at an all-time-high, rising about 11% from 2019 for the median price of single-family homes. Across the state, the median sales price was at $450,000. For the Denver metro area — including Adams, Arapahoe, Boulder, Broomfield, Denver, Douglas and Jefferson counties — prices were higher than the state record at $492,500.

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Though the demand is there, sellers are putting up fewer houses on the market. August saw a nearly 50% decrease in active listings statewide. There were 29,115 listings last August, according to CAR, compared to this year’s 15,358.

In the August market recap, Chris Hardy, spokesperson for the CAR Fort Collins region, said that luxury home sales, which he categorized as being priced at $650,000 or more, are doing well due to low interest rates. But Fort Collins follows the trend with low stock of sub-median-priced houses.

“Collectively, the $650-plus market has seen a more than 20% increase in homes sold compared to the previous year,” Hardy said in a written statement. “In contrast, the number of homes sold in the sub-median price range has dropped 13% and available listings for sale in this sub-median category has dropped more than 70%. Clearly, there aren’t enough homes available at the sub-median price to meet demand.” 

In Boulder and Broomfield counties, the lack of listings is contributing to the rising costs of homes, said Kelly Moye, spokesperson for CAR, in the August report. She added that there are bidding wars over available homes and that they leave the market quickly. She said that houses in Boulder County are selling in about 46 days. In Broomfield, it’s 29 days.

“Listings in both counties are down between 10-15% from the beginning of the year, causing an inventory shortage for those buyers who are anxious to move and take advantage of low interest rates,” Moye said in a written statement. “The imbalance of supply and demand has caused prices to rise in both counties 4% from the beginning of the year.”

Moye said that homeowners are “deciding if they can’t be in the home they love, love the one they’re with.” She said that instead of listing their houses, homeowners who were interested in selling are opting for remodeling.

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