Is it a Buyer’s Market in Summit County?
All over the country, you hear about how bad the real estate market is. We get low offers on properties from people who are convinced the market is softening, and our Sellers, who know otherwise, aren’t interested in looking at them. Why? Because they don’t need to. As I write this, January 11, 2007, we only have 608 residential properties for sale in our MLS in the entire county! In 2006, we sold 2480 residential properties. Do the math, and it shows that if we get no new listings at all, we only have enough properties on the market to last about 3 months. That is tight inventory.
The number of sales are up slightly from a year ago, and 2005 was a record year with 2469 residential sales. When there is no inventory of properties for people to buy, the prices will increase, which is exactly what has happened. Interest rates are low and holding steady, and the foreclosures that are affecting Denver have not occurred in great numbers our market. Second home buyers don’t take out risky loans and they tend to not overextend themselves. About 2/3 of our Buyers are second home Buyers. The average price of a single family home in Summit County in 2006 was $732,289 according to Land Title Guarantee Company. It is no wonder there is little to buy anywhere in the County under $600,000. However, our neighbors in Eagle County (home of Vail) have an average home price of $1,089,584, so our prices look pretty good in comparison!
