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The Good News about Real Estate

According to Zillow, which is a nationwide company servicing thousands of zip codes, and is certainly computer generated, but it is useful for discussion. The best way to get a more in depth accounting of the market you really need to talk to a local Breckenridge realtor which would be Roger and Teresa Moen of course. We have seen a sluggish market in the last quarter of 2022. The true test will be to see what happens in this first quarter of 2023.

A couple of things are showing themselves to be promising. One is our sales are almost where they were last year at this time. I have also been seeing interest rates going down again. I have even seen some no-doc loans which I haven’t seen in years. So the chart below is projecting 2.5% value increase which is low for Breckenridge. I will keep you posted as to what is happening in the near future. If you have a particular price range of Breckenridge mountain homes or another area of Summit County let me know and I can do a more in-depth search for you. Roger and I are your friendly, local guides to all things real estate!

 

Here is a monthly local update based upon homes you viewed in zip code 80424.

What’s Going on in the present Breck real estate market

I wanted to share some charts & graphs to help you understand the current Breckenridge market more fully.
Here’s a long-term chart showing all active residential listings (homes, condos, townhomes, duplexes, vacant land) – no commercial, no timeshare.
Note the rapid up/down seasonal fluctuation in the number of active listings – always more listings on the market in the summer, fewer in the winter.
The more important thing to notice: the better the overall state of the US economy, the fewer the listings there are. During the years 2004 – 2007, the number of listings went down as the general US economy was thriving. The number of active listings bottomed out in 2007 with only ~350 listings. Then the Great Recession hit. People still wanted to sell, but very few sales occurred, so the inventory skyrocketed to over 1,200 listings in Summer 2009 and again in Summer 2010.
As we recovered from the Great Recession, the inventory decreased pretty steadily, from 2011 through 2020, and then by late 2020 the “COVID FEVER BUYING FRENZY” was in full swing, and the inventory plummeted to just ~60 listings, in Spring 2021 and again in Spring 2022.
Zooming in on the last few years…
This chart is a close-up of just the past few years. Note that inventory plummeted in late 2020 and early 2021 as COVID-fueled buying fever prevailed. Then, starting in Summer 2022, the market cooled a bit and inventory rose.. but it still peaked at around 260 listings in Fall 2022 … and now it’s dropping pretty fast again.
As of 12/15/22, there were only 165 listings on the market. That is lower than anytime prior to the onset of COVID. It’s still a seller’s market, as long as there is so little inventory. Properties are currently selling faster than new ones are coming on the market, so the number of listings is dropping.
Questions? Need answers? Roger and I are your number ONE professional choice for our knowledge, expertise and advise. We look forward to assisting you. Happy Holidays.

A Forecast for 2023

Amid higher mortgage rates and inflation, many buyers are presenting lowball offers, assuming that sellers are no longer in control. The buyers reason that the days of sellers asking for whatever they want, and having bidding wars for their properties is over, and so the sellers should be receptive to lower offers. This is partially true, but not entirely. Here are 2 reasons why:

First, this year I’ve had more people paying cash for their second homes here in Breckenridge and surrounding areas. Remember, Breckenridge is a resort market, so interest rates are not as much of a concern here, versus areas where people are struggling to finance their first home purchase. But, the way that it is affecting our investors in Breckenridge, is that they are now figuring “cash is king” and in some cases they are right. A cash transaction can close quickly, around 3 weeks, while a transaction with a loan will typically take 6-8 weeks. A quick closing is usually appealing to a seller.

Second, sellers are seeing more price reductions in their properties for sale and so they see this as a distressed or highly motivated seller. From what we are seeing these price reductions are due to the sellers learning that the crazy run on sales that we saw during the pandemic, where the sellers can demand whatever price they want and get multiple bids, is no longer the case. It takes awhile for both buyers and sellers to learn that this market is different, and more balanced for buyers and sellers. It is a more equal playing field you might say. So in this learning process, you will see price reductions periodically until the market will bear the sellers’ price. The market dictates the price always.
In an ever-changing world our Breckenridge market is no different so keeping educated is the best way to make a good decision. We are always here to discuss what the latest projections are during a specific season. We are your local experts!