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Today, in our ongoing series about local real estate markets, we’ll take a look at home sales and trends in the Colorado real estate market.
First off, Denver home sales spiked in March, up 46% from February, according to the Denver Post.
Million dollar home sales were up too, Bizjournals.com reports:
There were 48 Denver-area homes that sold in March for $1 million or more, 50 percent more than the 32 sold in March 2012. In the first three months of 2013, 108 luxury homes in the area were sold totaling $160.24 million compared to the 83 sold in the same time period in 2012 totaling $127.11 million.
And The Denver Channel reports that home prices have reached 2007 levels:
Denver’s S&P Case-Shiller home price index for December was 134.14, meaning that local home resale prices averaged 34.14 percent higher than they were in the benchmark month of January 2000. The last time Denver topped that price level was in October 2007, when the Case-Shiller index stood at 136.09. The peak index reading for Denver was the summer of 2006 when it hit 140.26 in July and 140.28 in August.
The Colorado Springs Business Journal also reports on the Colorado Springs market:
Colorado Springs home prices increased 6.8 percent year-over-year in February, including distressed sales. CoreLogic, a real estate analyses firm released its price index for Colorado Springs and the country today. While a 6.8 percent increase in the Colorado Springs home price index is significant, prices aren’t rising as dramatically in Colorado Springs as they are nationally.
The Wall Street Journal reports that military cuts may hurt the Colorado real estate market:
But federal budget cuts affecting the Colorado Springs area’s large military bases threaten to weaken the area’s economy and raise questions about the outlook for the region’s real estate. Some $85 billion in sweeping federal budget cuts, known as the sequester, were triggered last month. “You have to be concerned if you’re a buyer,” said Brian Wagner, managing director of Sierra Commercial Real Estate Inc. in Colorado Springs. Lower federal dollars spent on defense would likely result in lower lease rates, he said.
And KUNC reports on improvement in the overall Colorado real estate market:
Homes in Northern Colorado are selling faster than they have in years. That’s not too surprising, considering recent state budget projections showing Colorado’s economy improving. What is surprising to some in the business community is how quickly the real estate market is heating up. Northern Colorado Business Report publisher Jeff Nuttall says low interest rates, limited rental vacancies and a short supply of homes are all combining to fuel the demand.
