THE 2017 REAL ESTATE TRENDS TO WATCH

In just a few weeks, three to be exact, we’ll be welcoming another new year. This is a good time of year to take stock of where we’ve been, but also to look ahead to where we are going.  We talk a lot in the real estate industry about active listings, pending listings and sold listings, because watching what is happening gives us a good indication of what will happen.

Extremely low real estate inventory has been highlighted all through this past year, so taking a look at active listing numbers may not be the most accurate view of where the larger Metro Denver, Boulder and surrounding towns are in terms of where the local real estate markets are heading as we move into 2017.

Homeowners and home buyers alike are looking for answers.

Should they sell now or hang on a little longer?

Is this the best time to make a purchase offer or should they hold off while snowflakes are flying?

Shoveling off the snow and kicking over some stones to discover what’s beneath the surface takes looking at more than just the current inventory. We’ve got to look at

·         How much are those inventory numbers changing month to month?

·         What have they done year over year?

·         How do the slight increases in mortgage loan rates figure into the market statistics?

·         How do those numbers affect each sale?

We can be encouraged by the increase in new construction; this eases the inventory stress level substantially.  Improved economic forecasts allow homeowners a new eagerness to put resale homes on the market for sale as they renew plans to move up.  New builds were 9% of the total sales in October and that number is expected only to climb.

While the population increases have made great demand on existing home inventory, it has served to elevate the demand for new construction homes.  New construction stimulates our economy even faster and further, benefiting each community with a very wide and full circle indeed.

Add to that the improving affordability factors;

·         continuing low mortgage loan interest rates

·         slightly slower home price growth allowing wage growth to catch up

·         rising rent costs inspiring growth of ownership percentages

and we are looking at a perfect storm.  Not a wintry get out your snow shovels kind, but the financial windfall kind that prospers buyer and seller alike.

Watch out 2017 – the Colorado real estate market is poised to take you by storm!