COVID-19 Continues to Boost Potential Home Buyers as Routt County Sees Another Record Month in Real Estate Activity

Another wild month leads to yet another jaw dropping How’s the Market report. October closings in Routt County totaled an astonishing $185M, an enormous increase from last October’s solid $76M. The record month puts total market volume up 45% year over year. Clearly COVID is continuing to spur a significant boost in the number of people seeking refuge and adventure in the Yampa Valley.

With Increased Demand Comes Increased Home Values

Buoyed by 52 sales over $2M, the average price of a single-family home in Steamboat Springs is now $1.4M up 18% since this time last year. Condo/Townhomes have had a similar surge, now averaging $614K, up 16%. Steamboat is far outpacing the impressive 7% price gains seen across both Colorado and the U.S. this year. Economists speculate that affordability concerns will ultimately cool appreciation, though the extreme supply/demand imbalance would suggest otherwise.

Residental Inventory Continues to Shrink

While savvy and prepared buyers can still find deals, many face challenges as active residential inventory shrinks. The 132 current listings is a steep decline from the 400 listings that were available in the summer of 2019 when there was balance between buyers and sellers.

Steamboat now has only 1.7 months of supply, just a tad above the rest of Colorado which has only 1.4 months available. Typically, supply slowly dwindles during the winter months, rising again in the spring, so buyers might expect their struggles to continue. In October in Steamboat, residential properties went under contract on average in a mere 15 days. Just five short years ago, sellers waited closer to 100 days for their properties to go under contract.

Supply Struggles to Catch Up

The recently completed Alpenglow Village from the Yampa Valley Housing Authority highlighted the affordability challenge locals face, as 390 families applied for just 72 deed-restricted units. While building permit applications are up slightly from 2019, supply seems to be years away from catching up to the ever-increasing demand. Hope for significant relief has been temporarily dashed as Brynn Grey, the developer of the voter annexed 450-unit West Steamboat Neighborhoods, is not pursuing the project anymore. At least buyers still have historic low mortgage rates on their side as 30-year fixed rates are under 3%.

COVID cases are rising rapidly in Steamboat and across the country. The potential for higher restriction levels on real estate activity combined with the normal seasonal slowdown in the real estate market, may cause a short-term disruption. Rest assured that we’re here to help you navigate whatever changes come.