Regional cities set records for median home price

Boulder tops $1.55M median housing price, up 56%

Communities in the Boulder Valley and Northern Colorado recorded record median sales prices during March, with Boulder topping the region with a median price of $1,557,500, up 55.74% from the same period a year ago.

That’s according to the latest data from Information and Real Estate Services LLC, the Loveland-based multiple-listing service for the region.

Boulder’s median sale price dwarfs that of the next-most-expensive city in the region, Estes Park, at $639,000, a year-over-year increase of 11.1%. Fort Collins also set a record of $495,000 for median price, up 16.5% from March 2020. Close behind was Longmont, at $493,000 up 8.1%, and Loveland-Berthoud, up 7.5% to $430,000.

“They are indeed [records],” said Lauren Hansen, CEO of IRES. “It’s pretty crazy, but low inventory, high demand, lots of properties under contract, and the number of sales, interestingly enough, still remain strong.”

The Greeley-Evans market recorded a median sale price of $354,250, down slightly from $359,000 in February.

Even though Greeley did not break a record for median price in March, it’s still up 10.7% compared with a year ago, Hansen noted.

Hansen said the market is being driven by a number of factors, including low interest rates, in-migration of new residents and millennials moving into the buying age group. She noted that the Front Range has seen a population increase of more than 10% since 2010, with Weld County alone experiencing a 35% increase in population.

“Interest rates remain low, so if you can find a home, ‘attainable’ is becoming the new word rather than ‘affordable,’” Hansen said.

Kelly Moye, a broker associate with Compass real estate in Broomfield and spokesperson for the Colorado Association of Realtors, said that in addition to low interest rates and population influx, escalation of apartment rents is also driving demand for single-family homes.

“I think you have a bit of a perfect storm of a combination of factors that are coming together,” Moye said, noting the low interest rates, high apartment rents and “immense migration here to Colorado from other places.

“Specifically California, New York, Chicago and Texas are the places where the most people are coming from,” she said. “There’s just a massive move here.”

Moye said that the COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated that trend, with remote workers preferring to live in Colorado than elsewhere.

“That’s what you’re seeing, is this enormous workforce who do not need to be where their actual office is, and Colorado is such a nice quality of life that they’re choosing to be here.”

Moye said that some potential sellers are opting to instead renovate their current homes rather than risk not being able to afford a new property. 

“So we have no inventory, and no inventory and too-high demand equals craziness,” she said.

“Pretty much all of the numbers as you go from Boulder to Denver are making records, no question about it” she added. “We’re setting records all over the place.”

Colorado was one of a handful of states in which sales prices exceeded asking price by more than 50% in March, according to a report released Monday by the Colorado Association of Realtors.

“Throughout the state, demand remains so strong that, despite a slight bump in new seasonal listings, buyers are simply viewing list price as the starting point for a bidding war that often includes waiving contingencies centered around appraisals and inspections and making sight unseen, cash offers well above the seller’s asking price,” according to a CAR analysis of the housing market.

“It’s almost like list price has become … base price,” Moye said. “That’s like a starting spot. So when you see something listed for $500,000, it will be $620,000 when you’re done. … So when you go see something at [$500,000], you don’t offer [$510,000] you offer [$610,000.] That is what is making this market and why you’re seeing the prices jump so quickly, so fast.

Here are some key stats from around the region, provided by IRES:

• Boulder had 117 active listings during March, down 20.4% from 147 a year ago. Sold listings totaled 61, with monthly average days on the market of 50. Sales volume totaled $92.4 million, up 18.32% from $78.1 million in March 2020. Boulder’s median price of $1,557,500 in March 2021 compared with $1 million a year ago.
• Fort Collins had 301 active listings during March, down 42.2% from 521 a year ago. Sold listings totaled 239, with monthly average days on the market of 71. Sales volume totaled $138 million, up 25.7% from $109.8 million in March 2020. Fort Collins’ median price of $495,000 in March 2021 compared with $425,000 a year ago.
• Greeley-Evans had 141 active listings during March, down 44.7% from 255 a year ago. Sold listings totaled 114, with monthly average days on the market of 46. Sales volume totaled $42.4 million, down 11.7% from $48 million in March 2020. Greeley-Evans’ median price of $354,250 in March 2021 compared with $320,000 a year ago.
• Longmont had 84 active listings during March, down 43.6% from 149 a year ago. Sold listings totaled 82, with monthly average days on the market of 30. Sales volume totaled $43.1 million, down 11% from $48.48 million in March 2020. Longmont’s median price of $493,000 compared with $455,940 a year ago.
• Loveland-Berthoud had 248 active listings during March, down 39.5% from 410 a year ago. Sold listings totaled 225, with monthly average days on the market of 58. Sales volume totaled $115.7 million, up 26.7% from $91.3 million in March 2020. Loveland-Berthoud’s median price of $430,000 compared with $399,950 a year ago.
• Estes Park had 42 active listings during March, down 46.8% from 79 a year ago. Sold listings totaled 35, with monthly average days on the market of 79. Sales volume totaled $25 million, up 239.5% from $7.37 million in March 2020. Estes Park’s median price of $639,000 compared with $575,250 a year ago.

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