Data is power! Here you can find data and analysis regarding the Pikes Peak Residential Housing Market. The primary goal of this data is to paint the picture of reality in our local housing market, to provide a frank and honest discussion of opportunities, threats, oppositions and conditions as they exist, and to obtain the pulse of activity locally. This data is the result of information pulled from the Pikes Peak Association of REALTORS’ website as well as conditions observed by sales professionals, builders, other competing real estate firms and individuals connected to the sale and exchange of real estate in the Pikes Peak Region.
Advice for all market participants:
SELLERS: You have an 11% chance of selling. Even with signs like Months of Inventory and a remarkably low number of new listings coming to market, the average seller has an 11% chance of selling each month right now. Knowing probability is AS important as price. You can have a great price and great condition, but if you don't have buyers...your price will likely continue to go down. Beware your ability to approaise: appraisers are strictly using sales back to October 1, and likely not many before that. Sales since October 1 have usually been below market value.
BUYERS: You have a 50% chance of getting a good deal. More and more of the market is priced to sell not to sit. That means that every other home you are looking at is likely well-priced. Most buyers are inclined to get "the deal of a lifetime" and are willing to look at a lifetime of properties to get it. Bidding wars are surprisingly common however on some of the truly great buys (typically below $225,000).
INVESTORS
: You have an 80% chance of making money in this market. It just might not be this year. Just as the use of a home as an ATM maching was problematic for primary resident homeowners, using real estate as a short-term, easy-money-thanks-to-leverage asset was a mistake. Where real esate outperforms other investments is in the compounding of values, the taxable benefits and in its ability to cashflow. Rental rates will increase this summer with the addition of thousands of troups and dependents. This will take even more inventory off the active listing market. The quality of the return should not be measured until 2010 at the earliest.
Read the full report with detailed and localized trend analysis here:
The bottomline...Values will likely depress further over the winter months but listing activity looks like it will also continue to decline. January will probably debut with almost 75% of the market vacant, bank-owned, shortselling or in some way under-conditioned. It’s hard to imagine too many buyers jumping in the market for the first time between November and December... but come January, more of the pent-up demand seen in September will start to act. Ditto, February. Ditto, March. If Wall Street settles down, if economic stimulus begins to take hold “if the plumbing gets fixed” in 3 to 6 months so that it at least stops leaking... recovery could actually begin by late 2nd Quarter 2009 in some Colorado Springs Marketplaces. For high-end sellers or market places with 10+ months of inventory, improvements will take longer. If selling in 120 days or less is a priority, price is the only solution.
Characteristics of New Housing Highlights the latest data on new-home characteristics released by the U.S. Census Department. Includes links to the complete Census report and other trends researched by NAHB.
Additional breakouts of this data and other trends researched by NAHB are available at www.nahb.org/constructionstats under “Selected Characteristics of New Housing” (dated 4/3/2008).
Housing Starts Updated monthly and based on a seasonally adjusted annual rate.
In-Depth Analysis from HousingEconomics.com Full array of analysis of factors affecting housing and the impact on the industry available to NAHB members, a limited number available to non-membe
