The environment surrounding the national, regional and local real estate markets is converging into a perfect storm of buying signals for people who are looking to buy real estate in Estes Park. You’ve heard it before from real estate agents from time to time across the country that “now is the time to buy” without much to back up that statement. Right now, I believe that now is the right time to buy and here are several reasons why you should be looking to buy Estes Park real estate in the next few months.

Low Interest Rates

In March the Federal Reserve will stop buying mortgage-backed securities which was a part of the stimulus programs congress passed several months ago. The Fed has essentially been buying down mortgage rates to make real estate more affordable. Without the Fed buying mortgage-backed securities, rates will rise until they are attractive to investors once again. Where they will end up has been speculated to be between 5.5% to over 7%, depending on who you talk to.

A rise in interest rates is bad for people who need to rely on a mortgage to purchase a home. For example, if you were to buy a $300,000 home and had 20% as a down payment, an increase from 5% rate to a 6% rate would increase your monthly payment from $1,288.37 to $1,438.92 (an 11.7% increase) excluding taxes and insurance.

High Inventory

“Absorption rates” is a real estate industry term that describes the relative health of the real estate market. The absorption rate describes how fast the current inventory levels are projected to sell based on how many sales actually happen per month. Nationally, it is considered a buyer’s market if you have more than 6 months of inventory. Right now, we have over 13 months of inventory available in the Estes Park real estate market. Here is another post I wrote about absorption rates in Estes Park.

Being in a “buyer’s market” makes it easier to be a buyer. Basically, buyers are in more control during negotiations because of the increased inventory to choose from and less competition from other buyers. Therefore sellers are more likely to be more flexible.

Home Buyer Tax Credits

Both the first time home buyers tax and the existing homeowner tax credit will be expiring in the next few months. First time buyers can get $8,000 and existing homeowners can get $6,500 if they follow the rules correctly. If you are a first time home buyer, you must not have owned a home in the past 3 years and must be under contract to purchase a home by May 1st in order to qualify. Existing home buyers need to purchase a new primary residence and have to have owned your previous home for 5 years. You can buy a smaller home or a larger one as long as the new home will be your primary residence.

While it is my opinion that these tax credits should not be the ONLY reason you make a move, if you were already thinking about moving, then why not take advantage of the free money? If you are looking for more information on the tax credits, here is a great blog post by Jay Thompson filled with more information on taking advantage of the tax credit.

Bounce in Median Sale Statistics

I reported in my most recent monthly stat report that the median price of homes sold in Estes Park has increased in each of the past two months. While I’m not guaranteeing this was the bottom of the market, I will say it is a very solid step in the right direction for homeowners in Estes Park. If you are a buyer sitting on the sidelines waiting for our prices to bottom out, this might have been it.

Great Deals Available RIGHT NOW

• Half finished cabin and separate lot for $150,000 in Glen Haven
• Luxury home on 10 acres has reduced its price over $500,000
• 2600 square foot home with views in a great neighborhood for under $300,000
• Brand new 4 bedroom condo with 2200 square feet for $429,000

These aren’t the only deals out there. If none of these trip your trigger, contact me with what your ideal property is and we can see what deals are available.

Increased Buyer Activity

Since the beginning of the year, our office has seen a flurry of activity including several offers and excellent showing activity on all of our listings . January numbers were very solid with single family homes selling twice as many this year as sold last January.
Also, all of the sale prices in January were higher than the median value of homes sold in the last 12 months in Estes Park. That is very good news for anyone trying to sell a home in Estes Park; it’s even better news for those trying to sell a luxury home in the area.

Pent Up Demand

I hear plenty of talk about “pent up demand” in our market place. Personally, I know several clients who are waiting for the market to show a solid and unmistakable rebound before they will be ready to purchase real estate. Other potential buyers are waiting for the stock market to get back to where it was before the “recession.” The problem with waiting is that the first-movers are the only ones that will get the best deal. Everyone else will be buying after prices have already appreciated some.

Summer Weather is Just Around the Corner

Longs Peak and Mount Meeker from Lily Lake
Click for Full Size

Summer is coming, and you know you want to be in Estes Park during the summer. Let’s face it; summer in Estes Park is why everyone wants to live here. Highs in the low eighties, plenty of sunshine, beautiful snow-capped peaks, a gentle breeze. Just thinking about it makes me sad that there is still snow on the ground. If you buy now, you’ll have plenty of time to get the property ready so you can sit back and relax as soon as summer gets here.

Purchasing Real estate needs to be a long term, focused decision. The days of massive short term appreciation are long gone. Looking back at the history of Estes Park real estate values, we are known for long term steady growth without major downswings or upswings. In light of the recent volatility in real estate across the country, long term steady growth rates sound very appealing. Are you going to let this perfect storm pass you by?

***Thanks to millicent_bystander for the Estes Park storm photo via Flickr.

Handyman’s Special PLUS Extra Buildable Lot

Great deal on this almost finished cabin with separate lot included. All you need to bring is some drywall, trim, and elbow grease. Cabin has been framed and outside has been redone recently. Seller is leaving some building materials and appliances but none are installed. Well and septic are in place but need to be verified by Buyer. Second well already drilled on vacant lot! Cash or special financing required. Extra Lot Larimer County Parcel # 26252-05-015

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Search for All Homes for sale in Glen Haven, Colorado

Happy February and a Happy Groundhog Day. Its a pretty sunny day out so that means the groundhogs/marmots in Estes Park should have been scared back into their burrow and signifying another 6 weeks of winter. I guess thats no big deal for us since our biggest snows come in March and April.

Januarys statistics were very encouraging for single family homes. We saw another uptick in median prices continuing the “bounce” I mentioned in last months update. Unfortunately, that wasn’t quite the case for condos even though the median price didn’t go down very much from last month.

Another thing I wanted to point out about this past months stats were that the homes that sold last month were all higher than the median price for the past year. It was a very good month for the higher end side of the market. This is a very good trend for home values and hopefully it will continue into the coming months.

If you would like to see a more graphical representation of how the market is doing, check out my Estes Park Real Estate Statistics page. Also, I would be happy to generate a more focused statistical analysis on the types of property you are interested in.Contact me here.

Single Family Homes

177 – Active on the market (4 more than last month and 23 more than this time last year)
8 – Sold in January (Same as last month and 4 more than January 2009)
11 – Currently Pending (2 less than last month and 1 less than this time last year)
$345,000 – Median Price of trailing 12 months of sales
$872,000 – Most expensive home sold in January
$355,000 – Least expensive home sold in January

Condominiums and Townhouses

86 – Active on the market (4 less than a month ago and 3 more than this time last year)
5 – Sold in January (3 less than last month and 3 more than January 2009)
8 – Currently Pending (1 more than last month and 7 less than this time last year)
$236,000 – Median Price of trailing 12 months of sales
$365,000 – Most expensive condo sold in January
$139,000 – Least expensive condo sold in January

Vacant Land

102 – Active on the market (7 more than a month ago and 30 more than this time last year)
0 – Sold in January (1 less than last month and same as January 2009)
0 – Currently Pending (Same as a month ago and 1 less than this time last year)
$105,000 – Median Price of trailing 12 months of sales
0 – Most expensive Lot sold in January
0 – Least expensive Lot sold in January

Now that 2009 is over and done with, all that we are left with are the statistics. Stay tuned to this blog in the next few days and I will post a more detailed analysis of the real estate market and a comparison of how different segments of the market are performing.

Regarding the stats for December, one of the biggest things to report is a possible “bounce” in 12 month trailing median prices for both single family homes and for condos. Both categories showed increases over last months numbers. This could be the beginning of a sustained recovery depending on how these next few months play out. I won’t be so bold as to declare the bottom of the market, but you can bet I’ll be keeping a close eye on it.

You’ll also notice a huge drop in the number of available properties available in all three categories. It is very normal at the end of the year to drop several listings off the market. Many of these come back eventually either with the original real estate agent or with another real estate agent or office. To compare, we actually have a little more inventory at this time than we did last year at this time.

We have also seen a general increase in buyer activity directly after the holidays. It will be very interesting to see if this wave of buyer interest turns into an increase in properties sold in this first quarter.

If you would like to see a more graphical representation of how the market is doing, check out my Estes Park Real Estate Statistics page. Also, I would be happy to generate a more focused statistical analysis on the types of property you are interested in.Contact me here.

Single Family Homes

173 – Active on the market (15 less than last month and 19 more than this time last year)
8 – Sold in December (2 less than last month and 3 more than December 2008)
13 – Currently Pending (4 more than last month and 4 more than this time last year)
$330,000 – Median Price of trailing 12 months of sales
$450,000 – Most expensive home sold in December
$135,000 – Least expensive home sold in December

Condominiums and Townhouses

90 – Active on the market (18 less than a month ago and 18 less than this time last year)
8 – Sold in December (4 more than last month and 2 more than December 2008)
7 – Currently Pending (4 less than last month and 2 less than this time last year)
$240,000 – Median Price of trailing 12 months of sales
$477,000 – Most expensive condo sold in December
$145,000 – Least expensive condo sold in December

Vacant Land

95 – Active on the market (6 less than a month ago and 20 more than this time last year)
1 – Sold in December (same as last month and same as December 2008)
0 – Currently Pending (2 less than a month ago and 1 less than this time last year)
$105,000 – Median Price of trailing 12 months of sales
$335,000 – Most expensive Lot sold in December
$335,000 – Least expensive Lot sold in December

Classic Log Home in Estes Park

This Classic Estes Park Log Cabin in the woods is available for sale for the first time in over 40 years! With a beautiful level lot and many mature trees, your friends and loved ones will thank you for the memories waiting to be made. Easy access on paved roads enable worry-free traveling in all seasons. This log home was built by Bernie Dannels who is locally known for long lasting rock-solid construction. Homes and Cabins of this quality and character rarely come available. Act today!

View the full Flyer Here

Search all available homes and condos in Estes Park

New Short Sale Property – Large 4 Bedroom Home with Duplex Rental Possibility

ATTENTION INVESTORS! Tremendous Value Available with this SHORT SALE in Estes Park, Colorado. This property is zoned A-1 Accomodations guaranteeing short term rentals and making the possibility of a duplex possible for additional rental income. The house is an excellent value for its size including 4 bedrooms, large kitchen, living room and family room. Great views of the 13,000 ft peaks of the Mummy Range plus views of Lumpy Ridge as well. Efficient pellet stove heats the house nicely. Also a possibility of subdividing the vacant land to the east of the house into additional buildable space (Buyer to verify). Rare offering at under $200,000. Definitely worth a look! Short Sale Bank Approval Required. Contact me for information regarding how short sales work.

View the full Flyer Here

Search all available homes and condos in Estes Park

We have known each other for 4.5 years. I wanted to take this time to say “thanks” for your service and I look forward to many more years of working on various things together.

The things Jean and I have appreciated about you are numerous. Since I have been in sales for a long time I appreciate a number of these things even more. We have worked together on listing, buying, selling, previewing and qualifying. Your characteristics remained the same on all of these things.

First, you ask us for our specific opinion on either what we are looking for or what we want. You then stretch that a bit and that helps us be sure that we indeed want what we say we want.

Secondly you give us good coaching. Whether its price to sell, price to buy, location, timing, or whatever, you never insist, just coach. That helps develop good rapport.

Thirdly you have extremely high integrity in all you do. You show up on time, you say what you believe is right, and most important, if you do not know something, you say you do not know. All of that develops a high trust. And that is important in any business transaction and business partner.

Jean and I look forward to working more together in the coming years. Your investment of your time is much appreciated. Your follow up is always great.
We look forward to working on other projects in the future. Thanks again.

Mark D. Rissmiller and Jean M. Rissmiller
Owners / RMC Clothing Company
Estes Park, Colorado

The Estes Park Real estate market continues to chug along as we head into the final month of the year. There has been a noticeable increase in the amount of activity in the upper price ranges of homes. Buyers are starting to look again although I am not entirely sure what the cause was or if is track-able. We have seen a definite increase in the number of showings in homes over $400,000. Hopefully this trend will continue to increase and sales will follow.

There are several high and low points to make note of regarding the statistics this time around. The median price of all three categories (single family, condominiums, and vacant land) continue to slide lower each month with a huge dip in the vacant land. Keep in mind that these are Median Prices which represents the middle value of properties that are selling. Vacant land has very few data points to work with and therefore will have a much more volatile data track over time.

On a positive note, there are more condos and vacant land under contract at this time than there were at this time last year and I would say there is more activity in the real estate marketplace than there were in past years at this time of the year as well. Only time will tell how the rest of December will play out and what kind of momentum we take into the new year.

If you would like to see a more graphical representation of how the market is doing, check out my Estes Park Real Estate Statistics page. Also, I would be happy to generate a more focused statistical analysis on the types of property you are interested in.Contact me here.

Single Family Homes

188 – Active on the market (1 more than last month and 10 more than this time last year)
10 – Sold in November (3 less than last month and 4 more than November 2008)
9 – Currently Pending (5 less than last month and 3 less than this time last year)
$325,000 – Median Price of trailing 12 months of sales
$1,375,000 – Most expensive home sold in November
$249,000 – Least expensive home sold in November

Condominiums and Townhouses

108 – Active on the market (9 less than a month ago and 16 less than this time last year)
4 – Sold in November (same as last month and 3 less than November 2008)
12 – Currently Pending (2 more than last month and 2 more than this time last year)
$236,000 – Median Price of trailing 12 months of sales
$154,000 – Most expensive condo sold in November
$125,000 – Least expensive condo sold in November

Vacant Land

101 – Active on the market (8 less than a month ago and 17 more than this time last year)
1 – Sold in November (1 more than last month 1 more than November 2008)
2 – Currently Pending (1 less than a month ago and 1 more than this time last year)
$105,000 – Median Price of trailing 12 months of sales
$103,000 – Most expensive Lot sold in November
$103,000 – Least expensive Lot sold in November

Blog Reader Question:
I read an article that said anything over 6 months inventory is a buyers market. How many months inventory is there in Estes Park, CO?

Answer:
The amount of inventory a specific location has and how fast it will take to sell that inventory is called absorption rate. The Absorption rate calculation is a standard that many people including banks, appraisers, investors, real estate agents, and consumers use to describe the overall health of a real estate market place.

Estes Park is a very unique market. Traditionally, we have seen a balanced market to be around 8 to 10 months of inventory. This is what we had when we were enjoying fairly steady 3%-8% appreciation per year.

Currently as of this blog post, we have around 20 months of inventory which definitely qualifies the Estes Park real estate market as a buyer’s market. Other evidence pointing to the same conclusion is a continuing reduction in the sale price to list price ratio. We are also seeing a large amount of price reductions among listings that have been for sale for an extended period of time.

There are two ways to lower the absorption rate. We can either find more buyers to purchase homes or have more sellers remove their homes from being listed for sale to reduce the inventory. If the absorption rate continues to stay high, the law of supply and demand will eventually decrease property values in the area.