by Kyle Snyder
Hello again, Carbon Valley. I hope y’all had a great summer. The real estate market had an amazing summer, and I’m going to try to tell you all about it in a few short paragraphs and one almost readable graph.
Our measuring stick for the information in this report is all sold data from January 1 through July 31. This represents a full seven months of the year. My experience is that results from the first seven months are indicative of what the year-end or 12-month data will show when we arrive at the end of the year.
The average price in the Carbon Valley through the end of July in 2020 was $411,472. That was up compared to 2019 despite lockdowns. And this year… well, we talked about low inventory a couple of months ago in my previous article. Extremely low inventory will give fewer buying opportunities and lower sales totals. That’s what we’ve seen in the entire region. This year, in the Carbon Valley, we saw a 13% decline in the number of homes sold through the end of July from 650 in 2020 to 565 in 2021.
If you bought a home in the first half of 2020, you have been rewarded with a healthy 17% increase in value. All those pro’s who kept calling for a bubble were wrong. If you listened to them and didn’t buy, you missed out on about $70,000 gain in equity. Through July of this year, the average price of a closed, single-family home is $481,248! Thankfully, the Carbon Valley also has several affordable home options, evidenced by 48 properties that sold for $300k or less so far this year.
How affordable is the Carbon Valley? I’m glad you asked. It’s the 3rd most affordable town north of the metro area. As far as the number of closings in each town, the Carbon Valley sits squarely in the middle with 565 this year. Mead had just 169 sales, while Ft Collins led the pack with 1,348. Additionally, the Carbon Valley is located the furthest south. These factors will not go unnoticed due to high prices in the metro area. Eventually, we will see more vigorous buyer activity from people wanting to flee the traffic and congestion of the big city.
Due to the normal seasonality of prices, we will see moderate price increases for the remainder of the year, so now could be a great time to buy. If you are looking to make that move to Florida finally, now is an excellent time to sell and make that dream come true. Either way, you should call my friend Tracy Graham. She is a pro, and she can help.
Kyle Snyder is the local sales and marketing expert for First American Title who grew up in the Longmont area. His 21 years in the real estate business make him an indispensable asset to many new and experienced Realtors. His passion for and expertise with local real estate statistics is unparalleled and unmatched over the past 15 years.
