Blog • Fun Facts • August 11, 2023

Showings to Sell

by Rondi duPont

How many showings will a property have before it sells?

In Northern Colorado, the answer is eight.

This is according to our local MLS system called IRES which tracks the median number of showings a property has before going under contract.

This information is valuable to sellers so they can have realistic expectations while starting the process of selling their home.

It is also a useful guideline to gauge if a property is priced correctly. If a home has had more than eight showings but is not under contract yet, there may be an issue with the price and/or condition.

Counterintuitively, this statistic is lower today than it was in the hot market of 2021. Back then the median was 12 in Larimer County and 10 in Weld County.

The reason why it was higher then, even though the market was stronger, is because there were many more buyers looking at properties. Back then there were so many buyers that many homes only allowed 15-minute showing windows in order to accommodate all of the people who wanted to see homes.

Blog • For Buyers & Sellers • Fun Facts • April 7, 2023

Dropping Inventory

by Rondi duPont

Breaking News – months of inventory has dropped significantly signifying an uptick in real estate activity along the Front Range.‘Months of inventory’ is an important statistic and something we commonly talk about in this blog. It simply measures how long it would take to sell all of the homes currently for sale at the current pace of sales.As a reminder, a market is ‘balanced’ when there is four to six months of inventory on the market.During the fast-paced market of June 2020 to June 2022, this statistic dropped to less than one month.During the market cooling of last Winter, it increased to over two months.Now, it is back to nearly one month of supply signaling a clear seller’s market.Of course, all markets are hyper-local and this number can vary based on specific price point and specific location.However, looking at ‘months of inventory’ from a big picture view, offers a good understanding of overall market conditions.Here is what months of inventory is for each Front Range market:Larimer County = 1.3 MonthsWeld County = 1.2 Months Metro Denver = 1.1 Months

Blog • Fun Facts • August 19, 2022

Under 100

by Rondi duPont

For the first time in a long time, the sale to list price ratio is below 100%.

This statistic measures the final sales price versus the listing price.

During the super-active market of the last 24 months, this number averaged over 100%.

This was a result of multiple offers and bidding wars which caused buyers to offer more than list price.

Now, the sale to list price ratio has dropped to below 100% as a result of a more balanced market.

These are the specific numbers in each of our markets:

Larimer County = 98%

Weld County = 99%

Metro Denver = 97%

Blog • Fun Facts • January 28, 2022

Steady Stream

by Rondi duPont

Despite the extraordinarily low amount of standing inventory, it is important to understand there is still a steady stream of new inventory hitting the market.

Inventory is low. That is a reality.

New inventory is coming on the market at essentially the same pace as compared to the last few years. That is also a reality.

Because demand is so high, the inventory doesn’t stay on the market very long. Residential listings go from ‘Active’ to ‘Pending’ very quickly (assuming they are priced correctly).

Over the course of 2021, there were 66,308 new residential listings that hit the market in Metro Denver. That is only 5% less than 2020.

Larimer County had 8,342 which is 7% less than 2020.

Weld County had 8,499 which is 5% less than 2020.

While standing inventory is near 50% lower than last year, the stream of new inventory is fairly consistent.

It is time to register for our annual Market Forecast with Chief Economist Matthew Gardner. This year the event will be hosted online on Thursday February 3rd from 11:00 to 12:00.

You can register at www.ColoradoForecast.com

Blog • Fun Facts • January 21, 2022

Standing Low

by Rondi duPont

The standing inventory of residential properties currently for sale is staggeringly low.

The number of active properties for sale is almost 90% below the average for this time of year.

In Metro Denver, there are 1,144 residential properties for sale today.

In Larimer County, there are 136 and in Weld County there are 174.

Current inventory along the Front Range is essentially half of what it was one year ago.

The low standing inventory bolsters our belief that nothing resembling a decline in housing prices is on the horizon. The low supply will continue to put upward pressure on prices.

It is time to register for our annual Market Forecast with Chief Economist Matthew Gardner. This year the event will be hosted online on Thursday February 3rd from 11:00 to 12:00.

You can register at www.ColoradoForecast.com

Blog • Fun Facts • November 5, 2021

Zillow’s Shut Down

by Rondi duPont

On Wednesday Zillow announced the shut down of its iBuying program because of mounting financial losses and increasing complexity in the real estate market.

The goal of this program was to buy properties directly from Sellers and then re-sell them for a profit.

Before looking at the interesting facts and numbers associated with this news, we want to acknowledge the people who are affected by this.

Zillow’s workforce will be reduced by 25%. Many people will be laid off and our heart goes out to them. We certainly wish them only the best.

Within our company we are not surprised by Zillow’s announcement. We observed many cases where they over-paid for a property, re-listed it for an unrealistic price, dropped the price over time to meet the market, and then sold at an amount much less than what they paid.

It actually became difficult to find specific scenarios where they sold the home for more than their acquisition cost. It was not uncommon to see losses of $50,000 per home or more.

Here is a quote from their CEO: “Our observed error rate has been far more volatile than we thought possible. Fundamentally, we have been unable to predict future pricing of homes to a level of accuracy that makes this a safe business to be in.“

In the third quarter of 2021 alone, their iBuying division lost $328 million.

Bottom line, their valuations were off.

It is a reminder that pricing requires a hyper-local scientific approach versus a generic algorithm

Homes are not commodities. Each home is highly unique. Each has its own highly unique location, features, amenities, condition and timing.

Homes can’t be priced like a book or a plane ticket. Every unique feature must be taken into account.

Nationally, Zillow has about 7,000 homes in backlog which it hopes to sell over the next several months.

Other players remain in the iBuying game and I am more than happy to help you understand those options if you are curious.

Blog • Fun Facts • October 15, 2021

In Perspective

by Rondi duPont

Let’s put today’s home prices in perspective.

Appreciation has been significant over the last 18 months. Some people are wondering if it can last and if there might be a housing bubble.

There are two ways to look at prices. One way is in absolute terms. This is simply looking at the dollar amount a home would sell for at some point in the past versus the dollar amount it would sell for.

The other way is in real terms. ‘Real’ is an economics term which means that inflation is factored into the valuation.

For example, a gallon of milk costs more today in absolute terms than it did 15 years ago. However, in real terms, the cost is about the same as 15 years ago because inflation is factored in. The price of milk has essentially escalated at the same rate as inflation.

So, how about home prices? As we know, prices in absolute terms are higher than 15 years ago. To be exact, prices are 43% higher Nationally compared to 2006 according to Case-Shiller.

However, in real terms, prices are the same as 2006.

Over the last 15 years, homes have appreciated at essentially the same rate as inflation.

Blog • Fun Facts • October 11, 2021

No Inventory?

by Rondi duPont

One misconception about today’s market is that there is ‘no inventory.’

Actually, there are numerous new listings that hit the market each month. It just so happens that they tend to sell quickly.

The numbers show the number of new listings that came on the market in September closely equate to the number of sales that occurred.

In Larimer County, 693 new residential listings hit the market last month and there were 688 sales.
In Weld County, there were 681 new listings and 733 sales.
In Metro Denver, there were 6125 new listings and 5233 sales.

So, while homes tend to sell quickly today, there is still a significant amount of new inventory hitting the market each month for buyers to consider.

Blog • Fun Facts • September 4, 2020

New Home Surge

by Rondi duPont

Sales of new homes have jumped to their highest levels in 14 years.

The annualized rate of single-family new construction homes is now at 901,000 according to the new Census Bureau report.

This means that across the U.S., at the current pace of sales, there will be almost 1,000,000 new homes built and sold over the next 12 months.

This pace is 36% higher than one year ago and the highest it has been since the end of 2006.

Given the low inventory levels of previously-owned homes that most of the Country is experiencing, this uptick in new home activity is welcome news.

At Windermere Real Estate we are taking Safer at Home and Social Distancing very seriously. Our people are following our Safe Showings protocol, staying connected to their clients, and providing help wherever needed.

Fun Facts • Housing Trends • January 10, 2020

Zero Correlation

by Rondi duPont

It’s an election year which means that our clients are asking us if election years impact real estate.

According to research done by Real Trends there is zero correlation between election years and the number of transactions in the market compared to non-election years.

They found that sales were down in 1980, 1988, and 2008 compared to prior years, and sales were up in 1992, 1996, 2000, 2004, 2012, and 2016.

To hear more about what will happen this year in real estate and the factors that really do impact our market, be sure to get registered for our annual Market Forecast event next week.

It’s time to register for our annual Market Forecast event. We will be live at 5:30 on January 16th at the Fort Collins Marriott. Back by popular demand is our Chief Economist Matthew Gardner. Save your seat HERE.