The Colorado housing market has not only bounced back, but it’s exceeded last year’s performance by a long shot- and 2020 isn’t even over yet. Earlier this year, uncertainty plagued everyone’s minds, and rightfully so. Sellers were pulling their properties off the market in fear of losing their safe haven, and buyers were unsure if it was the time to put down money on a new home in fear of it not being the right time to invest. No one knew what a global pandemic
would mean for the world, or for the economy. Such hesitancy about the market is understandable, yet the irony is that after closely examining housing market trends, we’ve quickly seen how incredibly impactful a pandemic truly can be to the market.
Some businesses have unfortunately plummeted, but this is not the case in the real estate market. Granted, in the spring, when most states were under a forced quarantine, and open houses were banned, not many homes were going under contract. However, in May, after a steady decline, pending home sales shot up 44.3%—the highest month-over-month jump since 2001. Many real estate experts and sellers have seen that now is the optimal time in years, to put their homes up for sale.
There’s no doubt that the novel coronavirus has created uncertainty for a lot of families. Full-time working parents have become part-time teachers, and office enthused employees have had to adjust to zoom meetings and remote work. But, with the new norm of employees switching over to working from home, the silver lining of it all has ultimately translated to ‘work from anywhere’. If you had the opportunity to keep your job, and have the option to choose where you decided to work because of a global virus- we’re certain that wide open spaces would be on the top of the list- and the numbers we’re seeing back this up. Now that more and more people are able to work anywhere, their choices of where to live in the U.S. are pretty limitless. Metropolitan markets like Denver, with its easy access to the mountains, are in extremely high demand.
Denver and it’s surrounding areas are increasingly seen as a destination for tech workers to flee the pricey Bay Area and for metropolitan East Coasters to free themselves of the confining spaces of the city to be more immersed in wide open spaces. Easily put, the new work-from-anywhere culture of the coronavirus pandemic is the top reason Denver and the surrounding markets are experiencing the most competitive housing market in history.
When comparing the Q3 performance of 2020 to that of 2019, all of the areas that Mountain Realty serves- Conifer, Evergreen, Morrison Foothills, and Pine- have seen positive increases in market activity. Another added benefit is that mortgage rates have dropped down to the lowest levels in history- we saw the lowest rates at 2.88% in August and today the lowest rates sit at 3.01%. On top of record-low rates, demand for properties has skyrocketed, and overall inventory has dipped to a new low. This combination allows for many sellers to get top dollar for their homes- more frequently even over asking price due to bidding wars- in current market conditions. Due to the surge in demand for Colorado homes, average prices for properties have increased in beautiful mountain regions like Conifer, Pine, Morrison Foothills, and Evergreen. What we’re seeing in real estate today is that buyers outnumber sellers in the housing market, which means it’s a true seller’s market.
Not only has the demand for Colorado’s real estate increased prices, it has also contributed to the decrease in average days on market. In the Foothills for example, average days on market decreased by 8%. Homes in Denver Metro are also selling more quickly, plummeting from 29 days on market to just 26 days, a 10.3% decrease. If you’re considering putting your house on the market, the statistics we’re seeing all point to now being a great time to contact your local realtor to discuss what this would look like for you.
There’s no doubt that Colorado’s active lifestyle, spectacular natural spaces, and stunning homes have made it a hotspot to buy and sell real estate in 2020. As people continue to search for homes with more access to the great outdoors and socially distanced activities, we predict that Colorado’s housing market will only continue to gain momentum and produce ideal conditions for people to reach their real estate and lifestyle goals.
