Recession? What recession? Home values high

May was another record month for local residential home sales. In Boulder, Broomfield, Larimer and Weld counties, there were 1,958 closed sales valued at almost $650 million, with a median price of $269,000 – the highest ever – and a 7.6 percent increase over last year.

For the year to date (January to May), sales are slightly behind the record-setting pace of last year but the median price is up 5.1 percent to $256,500 and the total volume is 3.1 percent ahead of last year. The market bottomed out in 2009 and, for comparison, sales are up 47 percent since then and the median price is up 25 percent. To say we have fully recovered from the recession is certainly an understatement.

By areas, Weld County is the most active with a double-digit increase in both home sales and median price. Sales are down in the other three counties, but prices are up everywhere.

The metro Denver market also reported record-setting home prices during May, with a median price of $333,955. This is an 8 percent increase compared with $308,933 last year.

The market is still dogged by a shortage of inventory, which is slowing sales and increasing prices. Over the next four months, we expect a demand for about 7,600 homes or 1,900 per month. A balanced market is generally considered a six-month supply so to support this demand we should have around 11,000 active listings. Currently we have a net supply of just 3,746 active listings, which is two months at the current rate of demand.

This also is reflected in the “days to offer.” The homes that sold in May were on the market an average of just 38 days prior to receiving an offer. This compares with 49 days last year. For the year to date. the figure is 47 days this year compared with 59 days last year. The good news is that the net active inventory has increased 16.6 percent since the end of April but is still way short of fulfilling the need.

The other good news is that in the two largest markets – Boulder and Larimer – price increases are holding at more sustainable levels. However, this has come at the cost of additional sales.

The higher selling prices are bringing more homes to the market, and we know builders are scrambling to try to keep up with demand.

Pam and Dave Pettigrew are local real estate brokers. Contact them at 2700 S. College Ave., Fort Collins 80525, at FCRealtor@msn.com or 970-282-9305.

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