Sales:

Home sales slowed in Fort Collins CO in October 2022. 170 homes sold, a decline of 24.7% from the 212 sold in September 2022, and a decline of 55.9% from the 265 sold in October 2021. Year-to-date, there have been 1,997 homes sold, a 31.3% drop from 2021’s 2,619 homes sold in the same period. Homes sold for an average of 98.4% of listing price during October 2021.

Prices:

Home prices were mixed in October 2022. The median price of homes sold during the month fell 1.7% to $575K from $585K in September, while the average price rose to $676K, up 4.5% from $647K. We believe that these results are mostly normal price variations reflecting the price of the specific homes sold during the month, along with a slowing market.

Inventory:

The inventory of available homes in Fort Collins CO rose in October 2022, with 366 homes for sale at the end of October, up 8.0% from the 339 for sale at the end of September 2022. The Month’s Supply of Inventory (MSI) rose to 2.2 months, the highest since May 2020.

Sales Price vs. List Price:

From a peak of 105.5% in April 2022, this indicator continues to decline, and now stands at 98.4%, a more normal level, as economic uncertainty, inventory gains and seasonal effects continue to offset the conditions in effect last spring.

Summary:

This is a really difficult time to make predictions about where the market is headed. We’re in a traditional slow season where we don’t expect high levels of activity, Sales and home prices have declined and inventory has increased, as they all usually do at this time of year. So we could look at the numbers and note that they fall within normally expected ranges for this time of year.

But the level of uncertainty regarding the economy as we head into the next year is really what will determine future market performance. At this time, that’s a huge unknown, and also one with a considerable downside. Interest rate hikes, inflation and the threat of recession will continue to impact potential homebuyers and sellers, and until we all have a better idea of how that’s all going to play out, we can’t expect much clarity from our analytical tools.

Some of that may come soon, as the implications of mid-term election results give us some indications of how these issues may be resolved, but we don’t know whether that will have much immediate effect. And we doubt that we’ll see any clear evidence of a market direction for real estate or be able to make predictions about that until we know more about where the economy is headed.

As always, we’ll keep you up to date on what’s happening, but if you have questions or just want to talk about the real estate market, please don't hesitate to give us a call.