Boulder Real Estate - 2006 Year End Statistics - Part 1 - Boulder Real Estate

While I’m already into 2007 working and planning toward another successful year helping buyers and sellers, it is very helpful to look back on 2006 to see where we are and where we may be headed.

Before I present some of the stats I have compiled, I’d like to share with you some of the thoughts I have regarding the market that are not necessarily easy to see in the numbers. Here is what I noticed in 2006:

There were a ton of vacant houses and condos for sale. This is a result of the softer than normal rental market. Many landlords have decided that selling was a better idea than trying to get a tenant only to find that it was a pretty tough year to find a buyer. Especially when the property was not in pristine shape.

Many houses did not sell and were withdrawn from the market after many months of trying. Only well priced homes are selling quickly. Buyers have many homes to see and it is very hard to fool “the market”.

Once a buyer for a house was found the negotiation tended to favor the buyer on inspection issues. There were many new roofs, furnaces, hot water heaters etc. paid for by the seller this year. Many had the attitude of “just let me be done with it”.

Although the statistics show at least some appreciation, many areas have been losing value. This year I represented a Buyer in buying a house for $11,000 less than the Sellers had purchased for 5 years ago!

One of the statistics I love for comparison purposes is “months of inventory”. This statistic relates houses currently on the market to the number sold during the last 12 months. The chart below shows the amount of inventory in months for the different sub-areas in Boulder County. The inventory is derived by dividing the number of current listings by the average number of sales per month during the preceding 12 months. It answers the question, “how long would it take to sell the homes currently on the market?”. The inventory is the greatest in the mountain areas and the lowest in Louisville. Both Erie and the mountain areas showed improvement from December 2005.

Although the figures for the County are similar, in general the inventory is higher for attached dwellings.

I will continue highlighting year end statistics in the coming days. Stay tuned!

Boulder Real Estate – 2006 Year End Statistics – Part 1

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