Ken Hotard, senior vice president of public affairs for the Boulder Area Realtor Association, says he expects spring to bring more buyers and homes to the market.
“March responded as we expected,” he says of the latest sales statistics for the Boulder area. “We saw moderate increases in sales activity (compared with February) and moderate gains in inventory. We are seeing deals close but we’re still behind where we were last year and the year before.”
The average sales price in four Boulder-area markets – Boulder, Broomfield, Erie and Superior – saw increases while the median sale price improved in Broomfield, Erie, Lafayette and Superior. The total number of homes sold dropped compared with a year ago in every community, but increased compared with February in most of the Boulder-area markets. Hotard says he expects sales and inventory to increase moderately through the second quarter of 2009.
Hotard also identified two “drags” on the market. Tje first is the lack of sales in the high-end market, which tends to skew the numbers. However, properties in the mid-range are not seeing significant decline in sales prices. With average house price drops of 10.9 percent and 9.8 percent respectively, Longmont and Lafayette are the exceptions to the rule.
Secondly, “weaknesses in the financial markets are definitely affecting people’s access to credit,” Hotard says. “Lending is still an issue, although it’s improving.”
From an anecdotal standpoint, more people are looking for a home to buy, he says, and that will equate to a modest increase in sales and a good inventory through the spring.
Hotard stressed that folks should look for modest improvements. “Nothing is signaling a big run at this point. There’s lots of uncertainly at this point, and a clear picture is difficult to draw here.”
But he is encouraged by buyer activity in which he has seen instances of multiple offers on some properties and sellers drawing better than their asking price – a common occurrence in past housing markets that is now the exception to the rule in the current situation.
“It’s important for people to pay more attention to the long-term data more than the short-term movements,” Hotard notes. “If you compare a month this year with a month last year, you’ll see extreme volatility. But if you look at year over year, you’ll see much more stability and get a better picture of market out there. It has not changed much in the last 12-18 months.
“This is a great time to buy for investors and people with access to credit,” he says. “Those waiting for interest rates to fall more should be looking now so when the time comes, they are prepared and have done their homework.”
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