Boulder’s housing market blossoms and nation sees biggest jump in 3 years

Spring may be just around the corner, but the housing market is surging early, as seen by an uptick in new listings and home sales — significant indicators that the dormant housing market is waking up.

BOULDER – Spring may be just around the corner, but the housing market is surging early, as seen by an uptick in new listings and home sales — significant indicators that the dormant housing market is waking up.

In Boulder County, sales of single-family homes forged ahead 33% and new listings rocketed by 42% compared to the same period last year, according to the Colorado Association of Realtors® (CAR).

Statistics for select locations reveal similar activity. Case in point: New listings for the city of Boulder, Longmont and the suburban plains climbed 20.5%, 40.7% and 13.6%, respectively, offering home shoppers more inventory and spurring renewed interest in the market. Sold listings grew 48.3% and 53.8% in the city of Boulder and suburban plains but dropped 2% in Longmont.

In some areas of Boulder County, prices declined slightly, relieving homebuyers who face lower, but still relatively high interest rates that are greater than 6%. Longmont’s median sales price dropped 6.1% to $580,000, while the Suburban Plains dipped 7% to $943,900. However, the median sales price continues to inch ahead in Boulder County — up 1.4% to $764,500 — and the city of Boulder up a more significant 13.1% to $1.45M.

The demand for townhomes and condos hasn’t experienced the same level of growth, with new listings remaining relatively consistent and sold listings declining by 12%, reports CAR.

Nationwide, the singlefamily housing market mirrors the inventory seen in Boulder County. National real housing inventory grew 12.8% for the week ending Feb. 3, 2024, compared with last year. The rise marked the “biggest jump” in nearly three years, highlighted Realtor.com economist Jiayi Xu. But even with the boost in inventory, the number of homes for sale remains 40% lower compared to pre-pandemic years between 2017 and 2019, indicating a lingering imbalance between supply and demand.

“Sellers are closely monitoring mortgage rates,” says Xu, “and adjusting their selling strategies accordingly.”

Xu’s analysis delves deeper into the dynamics at play, emphasizing the pivotal role of mortgage rates in shaping seller behavior. Current rates have softened, now about 1% lower than the 23-year peak of over 7% last fall. The record-setting rates caused some would-be sellers to choose to stay in their homes, locked into low-interest rate mortgages. He noted that median home prices have shown a modest increase of 0.9% compared to last year, far from the meteoric rise witnessed in recent years, suggesting a potential shift in the market dynamics.

“Although the nation’s median home listing price typically rises after the first week of the year, we may not see the intensity of price growth that we’ve seen in 2021 to 2023,” says Xu.

The surge in listings and slowed increase in home prices offer a ray of hope to buyers.

Read the full articles and see the statistics at realtor.com/ news/trends/the-housingmarkets-recent-significant-boost/ and car-co.stats.showingtime.com/ docs/lmu/x/bouldercounty. Tom Kalinski is the broker/owner of RE/MAX of Boulder, the local residential real estate company he established in 1977. He was inducted into Boulder County’s Business Hall of Fame in 2016 and has a 40-year background in commercial and residential real estate. For questions, e-mail Tom at tomkalinski33@gmail.com, call 303.441.5620 or visit boulderco.com.