As I outlined in a previous post the real estate market is really crazy right now. Due to the low inventory and some upward movement in interest rates buyers are swarming new listings as they come available. I am working closely with a number of buyers and as they see listings, I come prepared to give neighborhood sold data. This way if there is interest we can immediately assess whether the home is fairly priced on not. When you look at just one home at a time (quick while it’s still available!) it is hard to get a sense of how a particular home compares with other similar homes.
I have noticed that the market is speaking very quickly at the moment. If it is well priced it sells right away. If it has been on the market over a week it’s over priced. It is a bit of a game of chicken because I have noticed that some homes which seem to be overpriced are still going very quickly. These sales are then causing the next seller to list their home before. This is the perfect storm for price appreciation. And we are seeing it throughout Boulder County but especially in Boulder.
The FHFA recently released their home price index showing home appreciation throughout the country. Boulder County is one of 302 metropolitan statistical areas (MSA) that are tracked using loan data and same house sales. For the one year period ending December 31st, values in the United States, on average increased by 5.45%. In Colorado appreciation was measured at 10.69% for the same time frame and Boulder County’s came it at 2.08%. This ranked us 59th highest out of the 302 MSA’s. The chart below shows the US average and Boulder County’s appreciation over the past four years
The top areas for home appreciation over the past year were:
Bismarck, North Dakota – 13.41% (Fracking)
Phoenix, Arizona – 12.05% (bubble recovery)
Boise, ID – 8.27%
San Jose, CA – 6.86%
