An overview of the current Colorado Springs housing market

There are not many days that go by that people don’t ask me, “How is the housing market?” My first reaction is generally to laugh. After decades of doing this job, I have, quite frankly, never seen anything like it. I found a meme recently that pretty well sums it up.

So many people think multiple offers makes it an easy market. That is certainly not the case. When a home is listed in this market, it will have multiple offers if it’s priced well. I listed one recently with a broken foundation that hadn’t been updated in half a century. Before the end of the day, we had twenty-two cash offers.

Well, that’s no problem, right? You just take the highest offer. Unfortunately, it’s not that easy. Sometimes people have buyer’s remorse and back out of the deal because they have bid too high. We are often having to sell a house multiple times in this market.

You also have to consider that any house with a loan will have to be sold twice – once to the Buyer, once to the appraiser. And that depends on the luck of the draw. Some appraisers are understanding that the Colorado Springs housing market is booming and are reasonable in their estimations of value.

Some appraisers are trying to control the market by bringing appraisals in low. When I’ve got twenty-two offers on a property, that is not reasonable response – but that’s a different story. How do you know which one to accept? What if the appraisal is low? What if there are multiple offers at the same price? Suffice it to say, it is important now, more than effer, to have someone on your side who knows and understands the market.

Colorado Springs Market Report for February 2020 through February 2021

Between February 2020 and February 2021, there was a dramatic seventeen percent increase in the average sales price of a home. The sale was often 102% of the asking price. The typical days on market was two weeks. And if no new homes were listed, we would be out of inventory in all price ranges within a week!

This is a snapshot of what’s going on in the Colorado Springs real estate market as of February 2021. So while it’s a good time to sell a home, it’s not always easy to find a home to replace it. That is one of the main problems causing our lack of inventory. As of today, there are 296 homes available in El Paso County, Colorado. Last week, there were 177. In an average market, there are 2,500 to 4,000.

Housing Market from January 2021 to February 2021

The number of new listings was up between January and February of 2021 by almost eighteen percent (957 to 1127). The average sales price in just that month was up five percent. And the number of active listings rose from 339 in January to 362 in February (almost seven percent).

If you’d like to put your house on the market, it’s an exciting time to play the game. If you want to purchase a home, call someone with experience and knowledge to help navigate the burning chairs.