Steamboat Springs Real Estate Market UPDATE Springs 2024

Just 2 months into 2024 and have already observed some interesting steamboat springs real estate activity. Today, we’re looking at a shift as we head into spring, a time that typically brings an increase in real estate activity here in Steamboat Springs. Will there be in increase in buying and selling? Yes, but to what extent is hard to predict. If the data is correct, it might be an interesting summer. This market report dives deep into the Steamboat Springs real estate market.

Steamboat Springs Market Update

Market update – National numbers saw 5.5% increase in home prices year over year (Case Shiller)

Local Routt county numbers while national trends have some impact here. It is important to understand that we are a very unique market and what is happening in Houston or Atlanta has very little to do with what’s happening with Steamboat Springs real estate. So, don’t make assumptions based on the national data and apply them to the Steamboat market.

January pending home sales are down significantly from 2021, but they are very similar to January pending sales over the last 10 years. February 2024 Pending sales is also right in line with pending sales for the month of February. If we examine the data going back 10 years, the first two month of 2024 are falling within the parameters of a “normal market.”

The median sale price in Steamboat Springs real estate normally has peaks and valley based on seasonality, but overall the trajectory is up. For all properties in Routt county, the median sales price is hovering around $800,000. For perspective, this is up from $363,000 just 5 years ago. Keep in mind this is the median of all properties. Single family homes and ski in/out properties are much higher.

Steamboat Spring Real Estate Inventory is down. Historically we had around 1,500-1,700 active listings for sale. Today we have 335. With such low inventory levels, there are more buyers than sellers. Therefore, prices remain high. There’s 3 primary reasons inventory is down.

1. Sellers with mortgages around 3% (which happens to be around 63% of mortgage holders) don’t want to buy something else at 7%. If you had a $800,000 loan at 3.5% your payments are $3,600. Change that to a 7.5% and your payments are now $5,600. So, there’s an economic cost to making that change. This is keeping many potential sellers from listing their home.

2. The second reason is that “inventory is down” is creating a stalemate of sorts. If a homeowner is in shopping for a different home, but remaining in the area, they won’t sell unless they can find something to buy. With inventory so low, people are having a hard time finding homes to purchase. So, we’re relying on people leaving Steamboat to boost the inventory levels.

3. And lastly, over the last 12 years, we saw an average of 800-1100 sales per year. But in 2020 & 2021, the pandemic years, those numbers rose to 1600 – 1800 sale per year. That’s roughly a 70% increase in sales in those two years. Thus, my thinking is that many sellers and buyers who may have anticipated selling or buying in 2023, 2024 or 2025 may have moved up their timeline up to those pandemic years. Thus, less transactions are occurring today. Interest rates and buying power. Many are predicting rates to come down in 2024 which will fuel more buying, selling and refinance opportunities. Many Buyers are delaying purchasing until rates or prices come down. But unless inventory increases, prices likely won’t come down.

The tricky part is when rates come down, more buyers will jump in, which creates more demand and maintains upward pressure on prices. Then there’s those buyers and sellers who are ready for change. They got married, their family grew, their kids went to college, divorce, different job, more space, less space, for whatever reason, these people have wanted to change but have been waiting. Waiting for rates to come down, waiting for the right home, waiting for lower prices, waiting for higher prices, but these people are getting tired of waiting (accepting the current rates are the new normal. The big question is whether there will be more sellers or more buyers THIS SPRING. The balance between these two groups will help dictate the direction of the market this year, as it does every year. At the end of the day, real estate always boils down to supply and demand, and this year will be no exception.

Real Estate Review We often go to Zillow or the county assessor’s website to see what our property is worth. But those are typically off by 10-30%. So, if you ever want to know the value of your home, condo, townhome, or vacant parcel, I’d be happy to offer you real estate review. This will be a more precise valuation of your property. So please reach out to me if this might be helpful in planning your next move or estate planning.

Charlie Dresen – The Group Real Estate #steamboatsprings #steamboatspringsrealestate #steamboatrealestate