The Buzz

Decline of unsold homes is an early sign of housing recovery

While the rest of the country is experiencing soaring inventories of unsold homes, Northern Colorado actually has 15.57% fewer homes for sale now than 2 years ago – 4,734 in March ’08 versus 5,607 in March ’06. A decline in the inventory of unsold homes is an early indicator of a housing recovery – and rising prices. Other early signs of a housing recovery in Northern Colorado we are seeing include:

• Residential vacancy rates are dropping;
• Residential rental rates are rising as rental housing gets tighter;
• Rising employment – more than 5,000 more people are employed in Northern Colorado today than 1 year ago
• New major employment announcements (see page 3);
• And multiple contracts on “cream puff” properties – if it’s sharp and priced right in certain price ranges, it’s gone.

The oldest law of economics is supply and demand, and right now our region is experiencing a drop in a supply and a rise in demand. Rising residential prices cannot be far behind.

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