July Month-end Sales Statistics

by neil kearney | Aug 11, 2009 | Boulder County Housing Trends, Statistics

The numbers are in and for those, like I who have a glass half full view of things, the numbers continue in a positive direction.  Sure, sales are down (see first chart)from last year, and the year before that … but what I focus on is the upward trend lasting through July.  Most years our market peaks in May and closings peak in June, but so far we are still on an upward tact into August.

The median prices (see second chart) are holding just fine, thank you.  Even with weak sales in the upper quartile, median prices are higher than they have been in quite some time.  This is a big positive.

Inventory (see third chart) is just about where it was a year ago and quite a bit below two years ago at this time.  The good news is that inventory went down just as sales started to drop.  Not a coincidence since many in the Boulder area have not been forced to move.  Think about how areas like Detroit are losing jobs in droves and people are forced to sell, well that is not happening here.  We are lucky to have a strong and diverse job base.

Boulder County Weekly Activity Index

by neil kearney | Aug 10, 2009 | Boulder County Housing Trends, Statistics

The market is still chugging along in Boulder County.  We continue to improve upon large early year declines in sales.  We are seeing fewer new listings coming on the market and those sellers who are really serious about getting their homes sold this year are reducing price.  The surge in the number of sales this past week was due to the end of the month.

Boulder County Weekly Activity Index

by neil kearney | Jul 30, 2009 | Boulder County Housing Trends, Statistics | 1 comment

The usual pattern for Boulder real estate this time of year is to see a bit of a late summer lull until school starts in late August.  Fortunately, the market is still kicking and showing signs of life!  The  number of new listings is down to its lowest level since I began keeping track in late April but the number of homes that went under contract or sold last week showed an increase from the week before.  The stock market and interest rates seem to be holding steady with no major swings lately.  Stability is good.

23% of Homes Under $1 million Under Contract!

by neil kearney | Jul 21, 2009 | Boulder County Housing Trends, Statistics

One good measure to gauge the strength of the real estate market is to see how many of the offered houses are under contract.  Not only does this give a number which is comparable across time it also gives a good indication about what sales will be in the near future.  A leading indicator of sorts.

The Mason-Dixon line of real estate is 15% of the current market under contract.  That is of each 100 houses currently on the market 15 of those have a buyer.  Below 15% and the market is considered slow and above that number the situation gets progressively better.

Right now, if you look at all areas and price ranges, Boulder County has an under contract ratio of 13%, a slow market by the standards we just discussed.  But let’s look at this a bit more closely.  I have been telling you for months that the real estate market in Boulder County is drawn differently across different price ranges.  The lower price ranges doing better and the higher price ranges doing worse.  Under $1 million, 23% of all homes offered for sale are under contract.  This is a strong market.  The charts below break this ratio into different areas (both single family and attached dwellings) and price ranges.

Boulder County Weekly Real Estate Activity Index

by neil kearney | Jul 16, 2009 | Boulder County Housing Trends, Statistics

The activity over this past week is encouraging.  Increases in closings, and properties that went under contract is a good sign.  Many years we reach the end of June and the market activity dries up quickly.  The week over week increases are not huge but it is important to keep going strong for another month or two.

Boulder County – Weekly Activity Index

by neil kearney | Jul 9, 2009 | Boulder County Housing Trends, Statistics

You know when you are driving down the highway at full speed but your gas light has been on for awhile and you begin to regret passing the last gas station?  You are still moving along with no outside indications of slowing down but you have a growing feeling that something needs to come up to keep you rolling along, and fast.  So it is with the local real estate market, at least from my seat.  Markets are all about momentum and I have the vague feeling that we have lost some of the momentum we have been enjoying over the past two months.  It may be just a  passing feeling, a bit of a 4th of July weekend slowdown, but I’m not so sure.

The chart above shows weekly market activity for the month in Boulder County since the end of April.  This past week we saw the fewest number of properties go under contract in the past 11 weeks.  Showings are also lagging.  My advice to sellers is to take advantage of the market now by pricing your homes to sell, before you know it, the summer selling season will be over.