MARKET TRENDS
Unpredictable Factors Deliver Record Setting 2020 Housing Market Across Colorado
INVENTORY OF ACTIVE LISTINGS STATEWIDE - DEC 2020 10,673
-47.5%
OCT 2020
8,444 -53.8%
NOV 2020 SINGLE FAMILY
While coronavirus delivered devastating effects on our personal and professionals lives throughout 2020, the oldest laws of supply and demand carried Colorado’s housing market through health-focused restrictions, as well as changing residential and work wants and needs. Coupled with historically low interest rates, the combination of circumstances delivered record-setting results in most measurable industry categories, according to the December 2020 housing data and year end analysis from CAR.
6,081 -20.9%
DEC 2020
4,537
3,726
2,685
-7.6%
-17.9%
-27.9%
OCT 2020
NOV 2020
DEC 2020
TOWNHOUSE/CONDO
said Fort Collins-area REALTOR® Chris Hardy. “The innovation and constant adaptation of our industry this year has been fantastic, but it’s far from over. In fact, I see this as a catalyst to future and permanent change in the way we work and live. We will need to continue to change and adapt to our new surroundings and work procedures. We have opportunities to create new paths of knowledge and get better at what we do,” said Estes Park-area REALTOR® Abbey Pontius.
Whether in the Denver-metro area or nearly any other market across the state, REALTORS® were eager to point out that inventory actually did rise during 2020 but was simply eaten up faster than what was coming available.
With December’s inventory of active listings at all-time lows for all property types, the months supply of inventory reached figures not seen before either. December’s 2,353 active singlefamily listings in the Denver metro area were down more than 68% from a year ago and reflect the lowest figure ever recorded by CAR’s Market Trends data. That scenario pushed the single-family inventory supply to 0.5 months, down more than 70 percent from December 2019. Condo/townhome inventory fell to a 0.8 month supply, down 55% from a year prior. Statewide, the numbers weren’t much better as there were only 6,081 active single-family listings in December, down 60% from a year ago and pushing the months supply to just 0.8 in the single-family market. The statewide condo/ townhome category finished the year with 2,685 active listings in December, down 52% from a year prior and leaving potential condo buyers with just a 1.1-month supply. A balanced market would have between 4-7 months supply.
“The most startling statistic of 2020 is that supply actually did skyrocket in 2020. In Denver alone, 24% more homes sold in 2020 than in 2019 while the previous change, 2018 to 2019 saw only 3.8% more sales. This means that even though 20.2% more homes became available, the increase didn’t come near demand,” said Denver-area REALTOR® Matthew Leprino. In Fort Collins, nearly 9% more homes were sold in 2020 than 2019. In Summit County, there was a 21% increase in the number of sales in 2020 over 2019. “Interest rates are expected to remain at or near record lows for the next 12-18 months, and to cap it all off, the pandemicfueled phenomenon of WFH (work-from-home) is likely to continue, allowing many employees to live anywhere they would like and not be restricted to locations near their employer’s headquarters. Colorado remains a highly desirable area to live, work, and play. It may now be all the more desirable as companies from around the globe release the geographic shackles of employee job location requirements,”
“Perhaps the most important factor to take into consideration is that recession or boom, bubble or bust or even a worldwide pandemic, people need homes,” added Leprino.
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