Colorado Springs Real Estate Market Poised for Recovery
With a new year comes new hope. Sometimes that hope is even based on fact, which is the case for the Colorado Springs real estate market. Those facts are:
- Homes sales for December were up 3.5% from last year, the 6th consecutive monthly increase.
- The inventory of unsold homes in December was down a whopping 25.5%, the lowest number of homes on the market in 10 years
- Fewer than 1 in 5 homes sold in December were indicated to be distressed (ie short sales, foreclosure, bank owned, etc)
- Sales for 2011 were up 3.3% for the entire year.
- Interest rates are now in the upper 3’s, making this one of the most affordable times in history to buy
- Prices are roughly equivalent to 2004 – again making this an insanely affordable time to buy
- Ft Carson’s large population of roughly 30,000 troops is largely home now, adding to the local economy
- New civilian jobs are being added fairly steadily, with unemployment falling
- Gas prices have fallen back below $3.00 per gallon, making some of the more rural settings in our area more affordably accessible
- The I25 widening project from Woodmen to Interquest Parkway is finally going to start, bringing a few construction jobs, but more importantly, easing the connection between Colorado Springs and it’s northern suburbs and neighborhoods, and ultimately the Denver job market.
It’s not all good news. Prices fell in December (the average was down 9.6%, the median 6.8%). There is still uncertainty in the world economy. International developments could put our troops back in harms way, or escalate the number required where they currently are deployed.
But for now, there is hope for the Colorado Springs real estate market. Probably even more than for the Denver Broncos to advance in the playoffs 🙂