Fun Facts

Blog Calculated Risk The economic research blog called “Calculated Risk” just completed a fascinating study on home prices. Specifically, they looked at the correlation between home price growth and inventory. They used price data from the Case-Shiller Home Price Index and inventory data from the National Association of Realtors. No surprise, they found that the lower the inventory […]
Blog 5.5 Million Short New home construction is behind by 5.5 million homes over the last 14 years. Since 2007, new home starts have lagged significantly behind the long-term average. The Census Bureau started tracking National new home starts in 1958. Between 1958 and 2007, an average of 1,102,938 new homes were started each year. Between 2007 and 2020 the […]
Blog Future of Work This week we had the opportunity to hear a presentation by Ed McMahon who is the Senior Fellow for Sustainable Development at the Urban Land Institute.   He is a leading expert on the future of housing and development in the United States.   He sees that Colorado is positioned to massively benefit from the […]
For Buyers & Sellers Record Highs While our temperatures felt like record lows this week, real estate prices have been hitting record highs along the Front Range.   Here is the average price for residential sales so far this year in each of our Front Range markets (includes both single-family and multi-family):   Fort Collins = $567,000 Loveland = $449,000 Windsor […]
Blog New Rate Prediction Windermere’s Chief Economist, Matthew Gardner has made his new mortgage interest rate prediction for 2021. You can see his breakdown of interest rates and other economic factors by clicking on the image below and watching his newest video. By the end of the year he predicts rates will rise to 3.63%.  By the end of […]
Blog 96 Weeks Mortgage rates have been below 4% for 96 weeks in a row. Today, the average 30-year fixed mortgage rate sits at 3.17%. This is 0.5% lower than January and exactly 1.0% lower than March 2020. Rates recently ended a 31-week streak of being under 3%. Over the last 5 years, rates have averaged 3.8%. Most […]
Economics 101 Enormous Equity Hot off the press is the Core Logic Homeowner Equity Report.  This is their quarterly look at what is happening with homeowners’ equity across the country. Here are the staggering numbers coming out of their research: Collectively, U.S. homeowners with mortgages have realized a $1.5 Trillion gain in equity over the last 12 months. Only […]
Blog Days of Inventory In the residential real estate industry, inventory is typically measured in months. For example, the definition of a “sellers’ market” is when there is less than 4 months of inventory on the market.  Meaning, at the current pace of sales, it would take less than four months to sell all the homes currently for sale. […]
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Blog Double Lumber The price of lumber has doubled in three months. Lumber is just one of several examples of skyrocketing materials costs which are impacting both home builders and home buyers. The cost of lumber is now at a record-level $1000 per 1000 board feet. These rising costs not only add to the sales price of a […]
Blog Yes is the Answer It turns out that ‘yes’ is the answer to the most common questions we hear right now about the market… Do you think more properties will come on the market this Spring?  Yes, the normal pattern in our market is for new listings to be 40% to 70% higher in April versus January.  The peak month […]
Blog Job Bounce “How could the real estate market be so strong in the middle of a pandemic?” That is a fair question and one we hear frequently from our clients. There are several reasons for this but two stand out. Interest rates Jobs Employment has bounced back much quicker than most people expected.  When COVID first showed […]
Blog Bubble Talk A hot topic of conversation these days is the prospect of another real estate bubble.  People wonder if prices can continue at their current pace and some fear a repeat of 2008.   Because we get asked about this topic so often from our clients, we thought it would make sense to ask our in-house […]
Blog Rate Heading Rate Heading Where are interest rates headed? This question was one of many which were addressed during our annual Market Forecast yesterday. Our Chief Economist, Matthew Gardner, provided insight on rates, prices, inventory and many other fascinating topics. Matthew’s prediction is for rates to creep up to 3.07% by the end of 2021.  They are […]
Blog Inverted Typically, in the Front Range Market, the number of new listings will exceed the number of closings on a monthly basis. Meaning, the amount of properties that hit the market in a given month will be higher than the amount of properties that sell in that month. It is normal to have the ‘inflow’ exceed the […]
Blog 14 Times                     For the 14th time this year, 30-year mortgage rates set a record and hit an all-time low. Based on data just released by Freddie Mac, rates are now at 2.71%.  Their weekly survey of the 30-year mortgage rate dates back to 1971. Just one year […]
Blog Remodeling Impact Americans spend $400 billion per year remodeling their homes. So, which remodeling investment gives the best return when it comes to resale value? It should come as no surprise, especially leading up to Thanksgiving, that the best money to spend upgrading your home is in the kitchen. It’s the place where most homeowners spend most of their waking […]
Blog A Little Perspective Here’s a little perspective on the inventory of homes for sale in today’s market… First we’ll look at Metro Denver: The average number of residential listings for sale at this time of year is 15,577 The highest-ever for this time of year is 29,722 which occurred in 2006 The number of listings right now is […]
Blog The Votes Are In Real estate buyers made their voices heard last month and made a clear choice for…  higher-end properties! One of the interesting dynamics of our current market is the significantly- increased activity in higher price ranges. The combination of high equity and low-interest rates is clearly causing people to move up.  They are able to purchase the […]
Blog Brand New Market Report                             The latest quarterly report from our Chief Economist Matthew Gardner is now available.  Here is a quote from the report with his take on the Front Range economy: What a difference a quarter makes! Following the massive job losses Colorado experienced […]
Blog Million Plussing The luxury market is very active right now.  Buyers in the high-end are taking advantage of low interest rates and the equity they have built in their prior homes. Closings of million-plus single family homes are up significantly along the Front Range. When compared to this same time last year, sales of properties in this […]