BlogFun Facts July 5, 2022

Weeks to Months

For the first time in almost two years, there is more than a month’s worth of inventory on the market.

This means that at the current pace of sales, it would take more than a month to sell all of the homes currently for sale.

This is certainly welcome news for buyers who have been craving a less frenzied market.

Since the market took off in the summer of 2020, inventory levels have been measured in terms of weeks.

Two to three weeks of inventory was the typical measurement for the last two years.

Today, inventory levels look like this:

  • Larimer County = 1.1 months
  • Weld County = 1.2 months
  • Metro Denver = 1.2 months
BlogFun Facts April 15, 2022

Interest-ing

The recent increase in mortgage rates has started some home buyers to look at programs that have fixed rates for 7 years or 10 years instead of 30 years.

If a buyer believes it is likely they will move or even refinance within this timeframe, these types of programs can be a good option.

The obvious benefit is a lower monthly payment compared to a 30-year program.

Another benefit, which most people underestimate, is the savings in interest.

Today, for example, a buyer would have these options:

  • 5.25% 30-year fixed
  • 4.375% 10-year fixed
  • 4.125% 7-year fixed

Over the first five years of the loan, the buyer would pay the following amounts in interest for each loan program for a $400,000 loan:

  • $101,126 for 30-year
  • $83,764 for 10-year
  • $78,831 for 7-year

So the savings in interest over the first five years compared to the 30-year program is:

  • $17,362 for 10-year
  • $22,295 for 7-year
BlogFor Buyers & Sellers February 14, 2022

Rent Record

Records continue to be broken in real estate, including the rental market.

Rents just rose another $2 per month to $1,594, a new record.

The annual rent growth of 13.5% nationally in 2021 was more than double any previous year, and apartment absorption counted nearly 600,000 units, which is roughly 50 percent more than the previous annual high, set in 2015.

The single-family rental market continues to outperform the multifamily sector.

Throughout 2021, the average U.S. asking rent gained $190 and 2022 is forecasted to increase by another 5%.

Source: Multi-Housing News

BlogFun Facts September 23, 2019

A Closing Window

For home sellers who would like to move to a new home this year, there is a window of time that is closing as we head into the Fall months.

Most people know that the Spring and Summer are the most active months for real estate and that activity trails off into the Fall and Winter.

Here are the specific numbers behind this…

The number of homes sold along the Front Range in November tends to be between 15% and 29% lower than September.

That means the best window of time for current sellers to obtain a contract from a buyer and close by the end of the year will occur over the next 45 days.

For sellers who have homes on the market today, it is time to ensure that:

  • The home is priced right versus the competition
  • All of the marketing elements are in place
  • It is easy for a buyer to make an offer on the home

 

BlogFort Collins Real EstateFort Collins RealtorFun Facts October 27, 2017

Short vs Long

There are short-term questions about real estate and there are long term questions about real estate.

Clients often have short-term questions like…

How much will prices go up next year? Should I sell my house this Fall or next Spring? Will interest rates go up next week?

We encourage our clients to evaluate those questions in the context of the long-term. There are decades of data on the Northern Colorado market which reveal certain patterns.

When we show our clients these patterns they feel confident and secure in the investment they have made into their home and their rental properties.

For example, the long-term appreciation rates based on up to 41 years of research are as follows:

  • Larimer County = 5.36%
  • Weld County = 4.25%
  • Metro Denver = 5.56%

So over the course of a year prices may go up a lot or go up a little, but in the long term they will stay true to these long term averages.

To see an update as to what is happening in the Northern Colorado market, contact me to receive our quarterly “Scoop” report.

BlogFort Collins Real EstateFort Collins RealtorFun FactsNorthern Colorado Real Estate October 6, 2017

Price Per Square Foot

At some point this weekend it’s likely you will make a stop at the local grocery store. When you are there you might pick up some produce. That produce, as you know, is priced by the pound.

Homes, aren’t priced by the pound of course. But they are priced by the foot.

An interesting way to examine an entire real estate market or a specific home is to look at the price per square foot.

For example, right now our company has a 2,470 square foot home right on the water in Seattle listed at $4,995,000. That comes to $2,022 per square foot.

Meanwhile, we also have a 2,549 square foot home for sale in Timnath priced at $445,000 which is $175 per square foot.

Price per foot is driven by many factors the most important ones being location and finishes.

Here is the average price per foot for our main markets across Northern Colorado:

  • Fort Collins = $181
  • Loveland = $160
  • Greeley = $126
  • Windsor = $136

If you would like to know what your home is worth, per square foot, contact me and I will get that information into your hands right away.

BlogFort Collins Real EstateFort Collins RealtorFun Facts September 8, 2017

Fall vs Spring

A question we start to hear from clients this time of year is “am I better off waiting until the Spring to sell my home?”

The perception is that Spring is the busy time for home sales and that a Seller would be better served waiting to sell their home.

The reality is the numbers show that your odds of selling your home in the fall (and even the Winter) are just as good as the Spring. The reason is that the competition from other sellers is much lower in the Fall and Winter.

Let’s see what the numbers say…

We did an analysis of the number of homes that sold last year in each month versus the homes for sale that month and then looked at the ratio. For example, if 500 homes were for sale and 250 of them sold, the ratio would be 50%.

Here are the ratios for certain months in our 3 major Northern Colorado markets:

Fort Collins

  • March = 38%
  • October = 38%
  • December = 55%

Loveland

  • March = 39%
  • October = 43%
  • December = 46%

Greeley

  • March = 48%
  • October = 49%
  • December = 82%

So the numbers tell us that there is no advantage of waiting until the Spring.

Also, all of our clients who are listing their home now see the advantage of dealing with the “known” versus the “unknown” when it comes to interest rates, demand levels and other market factors.

If you would like to see the odds of selling in your particular neighborhood and your particular price range, contact me today.

BlogFort Collins Real EstateFort Collins RealtorFun Facts September 1, 2017

Colorado Home Price Appreciation

New Rankings

The new rankings are out from the Federal Housing Finance Authority which ranks all 50 states plus close to 300 individual metropolitan markets for home price appreciation.

We trust this source because they track actual sales of individual homes versus simply looking at average prices. Their home price index is one of the key pieces of research that we follow closely.

There are a few significant items in their latest report (which is hot off the press).

  • Colorado is ranked 2nd for one-year appreciation, 5th for five-year appreciation and 1st for twenty five-year appreciation. Prices across Colorado have increased 324% since the end of 1991.
  • Fort Collins/Loveland is ranked 10th out of all the metro areas for one-year appreciation with a 12.1% increase.
  • Greeley is in at 21st with 10.73% appreciation

In case you are curious, the hottest market in the country is Mount Vernon, Washington with 15.1% yearly appreciation. Atlantic City is ranked last with a 0.8% price decrease.

It’s clearly “good to be us” as we are one of the highest-performing markets over the long-haul.

Check out the FHFA recap video here:

Here is the data straight from FHFA’s report:

U.S. house prices rose 1.6 percent in the second quarter of 2017 according to the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) House Price Index (HPI).   House prices rose 6.6 percent from the second quarter of 2016 to the second quarter of 2017.  FHFA’s seasonally adjusted monthly index for June was up 0.1 percent from May.

The HPI is calculated using home sales price information from mortgages sold to, or guaranteed by, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.  FHFA has produced a video of highlights for this quarter.

Significant Findings

  • Home prices rose in 48 states and the District of Columbia between the second quarter of 2016 and the second quarter of 2017.  The top five states in annual appreciation were:  1) Washington 12.4 percent; 2) Colorado 10.4 percent; 3) Idaho 10.3 percent; 4) Florida 9.4 percent; and 5) Utah 9.2 percent.
  • Among the 100 largest metropolitan areas in the U.S., annual price increases were greatest in the Seattle-Bellevue-Everett, WA (MSAD), where prices increased by 15.7 percent.  Prices were weakest in New Haven-Milford, CT, where they rose by 0.1 percent.
  • Of the nine census divisions, the Pacific division experienced the strongest increase in the second quarter, posting a 2.6 percent quarterly increase and a 8.9 percent increase since the second quarter of last year.  House price appreciation was weakest in the Middle Atlantic division, where prices rose 0.8 percent from the last quarter.

Source: FHFA

BlogFort Collins Real EstateFort Collins Realtor August 24, 2017

Should You Wait or Buy Now?

The housing market is remarkably tight across the U.S., and you may be wondering if you should wait for home prices to slow before making your move. Windermere’s Chief Economist, Matthew Gardner, shares why waiting could end up costing you more money in the long run.

Should You Wait out the Housing Market?

The housing market is remarkably tight across the U.S., and you may be wondering if you should wait for home prices to slow before making your move. Windermere's Chief Economist, Matthew Gardner, shares why waiting could end up costing you more money in the long run.

Posted by Windermere Real Estate on Friday, August 18, 2017

BlogFort Collins Real EstateFort Collins RealtorFun Facts August 18, 2017

No two alike

Anyone who has more than one child is frequently amazed by the difference between the children. How is it that two kids from the same parents are so different from each other?

Same goes in our Northern Colorado market. We see a major difference between certain price ranges and certain locations right here in our little neck of the woods.

Clients are constantly reading about and hearing about the “hot” market. They make assumptions that every price range and every location in Larimer and Weld Counties are on fire. Not true!

Just like two kids from the same parents are different, two price ranges in the same place are very different.

To make this point, let’s look at months of inventory. This statistic simply measures how long it would take to sell the current inventory of homes at the current pace of sales.

Across all price ranges, months of inventory in Larimer County = 2.0. Meaning it would take two months to sell all the homes currently for sale. But this is misleading, because months of inventory…

So, the $1,000,000 seller who hears that the market is “hot” is actually faced with a year’s inventory currently on the market!

This is a very high-level look at the differences in our market. I am happy to give you a detailed look at your exact neighborhood in your exact price range. Let us know if we can help!