SHORT SUPPLY

More New

by Rondi duPont

Nationally, new home inventory as a percentage of the total inventory just hit a record high. 26% of all properties currently available for sale are brand new homes.

To put this in perspective, in 2018 it was 14%. From 2000 to 2008 it bounced between 10% and 15%

Locally, we notice even higher numbers.

In Larimer County, 29% of all inventory is brand new. In Weld County, it is a whopping 35%.

The reason why the percentage is high is not so much because of a surge in new construction, but because the amount of re-sale properties listed for sale is so low.

The Front Range has an under-supplied market, especially when it comes to re-sale properties.

Mis-Led

by Rondi duPont

The most misleading stat about the housing market is increase in inventory. The number of properties for sale is up significantly compared to last year. In most locations along the Front Range, inventory has doubled.This is obviously great news for buyers because they now have more choice.This is obviously meaningful for sellers because they now have more competition.But, it does not mean there is a glut of inventory. It does not mean that we are now, all of a sudden, over-supplied.Quite the contrary. The market is still undersupplied. There would need to be at least double the amount of homes for sale for Front Range real estate to begin to be balanced.The increase in inventory, being so large, gets a lot of attention in the media and can sometimes be taken the wrong way.Yes, inventory has doubled. But, it has doubled compared to all time lows.Freddie Mac reports that Nationally, the market is undersupplied by 3.8 million housing units.So, the increase in homes for sale is a good thing for the market and is nothing like a glut of inventory.

More Homes Needed

by Rondi duPont

The market is in short supply.

More homes are needed to fulfill the need to buyer demand.

Compared to exactly one year ago, the supply of homes is down:

32.6% in Metro Denver
25.1% in Northern Colorado

An interesting and useful measurement we track is months of inventory. This stat tells how long it would take to sell all of the homes currently for sale at the current pace of sales.

Of course, months of supply can vary greatly by price range and location. However, this stat does a good job of explaining the overall state of the market.

Specifically, months of supply tells us if the market is in balance.

A ‘balanced’ market is when there is 4 to 6 months of supply. A buyers market occurs when the stat is higher than this range. A sellers market occurs when it is lower.

The months of supply looks like this in our market:

1.0 months in Metro Denver
1.3 months in Northern Colorado

So, the market overall is significantly under-supplied and more homes are needed to meet demand.

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.