Front Range Real Estate Market Report – October 15, 2020

Mortgage rates hit another record low this week. This is the tenth record low this year – 2.81% for a 30-year-loan, according to Freddie Mac. A year ago, the average was 3.69%. This is helping drive buyer demand, but, according to the Mortgage Banker’s Association, applications decreased 0.7% compared to last week.

Speaking of mortgages, in September, applications for mortgages to buy new homes were up a whopping 38.2% compared to September 2019. New home builders are seeing high demand as inventory is at historic lows.

Wire fraud is a growing problem. We do all we can to help our clients avoid it. You should know what it is and read this cautionary tale. Never wire money anywhere based on instructions in an email.

The CARES Act gave many homeowners – those with federally-backed mortgages – the ability to delay monthly payments for almost a year. Unfortunately, many homeowners haven’t taken advantage of the forebearance plan. About 400,000 Americans are “needlessly delinquent” on their mortgage payments.

Colorado continues to be one of the best places to live anywhere. (You knew that already!) US News & World Report puts Boulder at #1 and Denver at #2 in their list of Best Places to Live in the U.S. for 2020-2021, while Colorado Springs is #4 and Fort Collins comes in at #5.

Ready to get moving? We’re happy to help.
Call David and Tom at The Principal Team at 720-408-7409.

Metro Denver Real Estate Market Activity

After the lockdowns of March and April, the metro area real estate market roared to life and boomed throughout the summer. Now that the leaves are turning and the days are getting shorter, we’re seeing our typical seasonal slowdown. This week, there were fewer new listings and fewer homes went under contract than last week or the week before. There were also fewer closings. Talking to clients and other agents, though, we get a sense that buyers and sellers remain highly motivated. We expect a very high number of total sales this month relative to previous Octobers.

During the last week:
New Listings – 1216
Back On Market – 281
Price Increase – 295
Price Decrease – 870
Pending – 1979
Withdrawn – 164
Closed – 1652
Expired – 191

Previous week:
New Listings – 1318
Back On Market – 314
Price Increase – 218
Price Decrease – 972
Pending – 2154
Withdrawn – 216
Closed – 2419
Expired – 427

—
Based on data from REColorado®