January’s residential real estate statistics held no surprises for Ken Hotard, but they did include some positive points that continue to support his belief in Boulder County’s ability to weather these tough economic times.
“I think it’s consistent with what we’ve been seeing, what we’ve expected,” says Hotard, the senior vice president of public affairs for the Boulder Area Realtor Association, of the most recent figures. “Most of our market areas continue to see stability, moderate pricing.”
Only 146 single-family Boulder and Broomfield County homes sold in January; a significant drop compared with the 191 that sold during the same month last year. The nearly 24 percent decline in sales "continues the trend we observed in the fourth quarter of 2008," he says.
One of the highlights of the totals for 2008 was the fact that Broomfield experienced a 14.6 percent increase in its median sales price compared with the previous year, as well as saw a 7.8 percent drop in the average number days a home is on the market before it’s under contract and a 5.1 percent increase in average sales price.
Hotard described Broomfield as a “pretty strong market” with an economy that’s moving forward. Its neighbor, Superior, is sharing in its growth with a 3.2 percent increase in median sales price, a 29 percent drop in the number of days to contract and a 6.5 percent increase in its average sales price.
Another highlight is that, as a whole, many Boulder homes were selling in less time in 2008 than in 2007, and many communities saw an increase in median sales prices or just slight reductions last year compared with the previous year.
“I think there’s growing demand out there,” Hotard says. “The properties in good condition and priced to sell are going to move relatively quickly. There’s still competition even though sales are down.”
The reduction in inventory of homes for sale across the county will hold up real estate values, but Hotard expects to see the number of properties on the market to increase through the end of this quarter and into the second quarter.
Hotard says he is hearing from managing real estate brokers that Realtors are “going back to basics” by educating their clients on economic conditions and how to prepare their properties for the market, and providing a high level of service and information. "That’s encouraging,” he says, noting he’s also hearing that more buyers are coming into the market.
"As credit eases in the weeks ahead we expect to see competitively priced jumbo loans become more available. That's really important in high-cost markets like ours," Hotard says. And the recently approved federal tax credit of as much as $8,000 for first-time home buyers will also stimulate the market.
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