Metro Denver’s housing market saw sales slide and prices continue to rise last year, and that pattern dominated across much of the state, according to a monthly update from the Colorado Association of Realtors.
Colorado Springs and El Paso County, the next biggest housing market after metro Denver, suffered a 5.5-percent drop in single-family sales and an 8.6-percent decline in condo and townhome sales last year compared to 2017, according to the CAR report.
That proved a little more severe than the 3.6-percent decline in single-family home sales and the 4.8-percent decline in condo sales metro Denver recorded, according to a separate report from the Denver Metro Association of Realtors.
Despite the drop in sales, the median price of a single-family home sold last year in El Paso County rose 9.8 percent, hitting the $300,000 mark in December. The median price of a condo rose 12.3 percent on the year to $215,000.
“2018 proved to be a very difficult year for the industry,” said Colorado Springs Realtor Patrick Muldoon in comments accompanying the report. “Many of us found it to be frustrating to figure out how buyers’ and sellers’ moods were swinging at any given time.”
Fort Collins and Larimer County recorded a 5.4-percent drop in single-family home sales last year, but the median sales price rose 8.4 percent. The number of condos sold by contrast was up 6.1 percent and the median sales price was up 8 percent on the year.
“Interest rates bumped up again in late summer and buyers continued stepping down in price and stepping back from resale homes,” noted Fort Collins Realtor Chris Hardy in comments about his market.
Pueblo County was another metro hub where home sales dropped, 4.5 percent for single-family and 7.5 percent for condos. But again, the median sales price was up 8.1 percent to $187,000 for single-family and 13.3 percent to $170,000 for condos last year.
Mesa County, home to Grand Junction, came to the housing recovery years late, but it retained enough momentum to keep sales growth positive, as in a 3.5-percent gain for single-family sales and 11.6 percent for condos.
The median home sales prices rose 8.4 percent to $245,000 last year, while the median condo sales price was up 6.1 percent to $175,000.
Fast-growing Weld County also bucked the trend as well on single-family home sales, which rose 5.7 percent last year. Condo sales, around a tenth of the total, dropped 3 percent. Similar to other areas, median home prices rose 6.2 percent, while median condo prices rose 5.6 percent.
The state’s mountain resort communities, which are more reliant on condo sales, weren’t immune to the sales slump. In Eagle County, home sales dropped 3.4 percent while condo sales dropped 4.2 percent. To the east in Summit County, home sales fell 3.2 percent and condo sales fell 9.8 percent. In Routt County, home sales were also down 3.2 percent while condo sales were off 6 percent last year.
