Routt County Sees Six Months of Escalating Real Estate Activity Before Cooling Down

After six straight months of escalating real estate activity in Routt County, November kicked off the traditional winter market cool down. Still, “cool down” is a relative term as the $149M in sales volume was up 84% compared to last November. September ($175M) and October ($192M) were all time highs for Routt County.

As new buyers flood resort towns like Steamboat Springs, it is clear many people believe their way of life has been permanently altered.  Demand for the Yampa Valley has driven overall sales volume on the year up an eye-popping 43% to over $1B. Typically, real estate activity here slows until more inventory hits the market in the spring. This year will likely be no different, especially with COVID cases surging and inventory at rock bottom levels.

Residential Listings in Steamboat Springs Hit All-Time Low

With only 119 active residential listings in Steamboat, hungry buyers must be ready to pull the trigger quickly and perhaps push their budgets to find their ideal homes. There are only 49 single family homes currently for sale, an all-time low. By comparison, in the summer of 2019, when supply and demand were more in balance, there were 180 single family homes listed for sale. The current two months of inventory is still higher than in some other desirable cities such as Denver, which has a supply of just 15 days.

Steamboat Springs Home Values Continue Steady Ascent

Of course, the increased demand and persistently low inventory means home values continue their steady ascent. The average price per square foot in Steamboat is now $472, up 21% from last year. The pandemic has boosted demand for more spacious homes and those with more acreage. That has led luxury buyers to come out in droves in 2020 with 59 sales above $2M, more than doubling any previous year. This has pushed the average price of a single family home in Steamboat to $1.45M, another all-time high.

As we wrap up one of the weirdest and most challenging years of most of our lives, we are grateful for all we have. We are lucky to live in this magical and close-knit community and we are so appreciative for our friends, families, clients and co-workers.  We are also proud that our business is healthy, and we have been able to donate over $75K in 2020 to support those in need.  We wish you all a wonderful holiday season and may 2021 bring you health, happiness and love.