Y’all have heard of writer’s block. I don’t have that. I have grapher’s block. I can’t think of a graph for the middle of this month’s report. Maybe something will come to me by the time I’m done writing this. A graph that I’d pay to see would depict the sentiment of the market – Realtors, buyers, and sellers, all relative to prices. In today’s market that might look like a kindergartener first crayon landscape “masterpiece”.
If we look at the data for each of the four areas, the results aren’t nearly as bad as a lot of agents are saying. Total sales are down slightly except for Longmont attached, but hey, we’ve been seeing this all year and it’s because there is less inventory than last year. Clearly, this hasn’t kept all the buyers on the sidelines since they have managed to increase median sales prices by 15% to 39% depending on the area. Days on market are 40 or below across the board.
September 2021 Longmont Area Real Estate Statistics (.pdf)
September 2021 Longmont Area Real Estate Statistics (.jpg)
The September 2021 results are the same as we have talked about every month for the past year. Nothing has changed. Well, one thing will, the season. The fall season will bring even fewer homes onto the market. What impact do you think fewer listings will have on a market that already has very low listing inventory? If the number of buyers remains constant, it means prices will continue to climb.
Here are a couple of quick sales highlights from each area:
- Resale prices of Longmont attached homes continue to climb. Only 4 of the 26 attached homes sold last month were less than 15 years old. The two newest homes that closed in September were built in 2017.
- The Boulder County Plains continues to tear it up with their 11th straight month of having an average price of over $1,000,000. In September, 8 homes closed above the $2M mark with $5.7M in White Hawk Ranch at the top of the list.
- The Carbon Valley had 3 under 3 last month… three homes sold for under $300,000… all on a lot lease in Prairie Greens. There were also 21 new construction homes reported as sold in the MLS.
- And in September 2021, a single-family home averaged over $600,000 for the third time this year. The least expensive sale was $365,800 and there three that closed for over $1,000,000.
A graph idea came to me in my sleep last night. I resurrected an old graph showing average price by month in Longmont versus the Carbon Valley. This isn’t a competition, and the higher number doesn’t always win. In September 2016, Longmont surpassed the $400,000 mark for the first time. Twenty-three months later they broke the $500,000 threshold. Then, it took until April of 2021 to cross $600,000. So, in 55 months the average price of a home in Longmont gained over $200,000 for a 52.2% average price increase. Absolutely incredible…
Meanwhile, out in the Carbon Valley, over a very similar time frame, they crossed the $400,000 mark in March of 2017. It wasn’t until 50 months later in May of 2021 when the average price exceeded $500,000. This is very nice return of 29.3% over a four-year time period. I’d buy that kind of return every day, and twice on Sundays.
More fun from deep in my reading list:
- Travel & Leisure’s list of Most Affordable Small Towns in America
- FORTUNE Magazine Housing Market Predictions for 2022
- Homes are More Affordable Now than at Last Housing Peak
- Prices Have Risen for 114 Straight Months!!!
Cheers,
Kyle Snyder
720-534-8355
