Housing Market Update - Northern Colorado

Greetings Friends!

The spring market did show up early again this year as it has ever since 2020. Once the new year rolls around the snail paced winter market changes in a big way and this year was no different. A number of listings we struggled to sell at the end of 2025 started going under contract one by one in January. That momentum carried into February and coincided with a significant drop in mortgage rates that brought them into the 5s!

The entire real estate industry was fist pumping and shouting from the rooftops that all was right with the world. But then, just a a few days later, those rates were gone.

Once the bombs started dropping on Iran, oil prices skyrocketed, the stock market took a bath, and mortgage rates went to 6.5% and that's where they sit now.

The sky is by no means falling. It never seems to in the NoCo housing market. It's as steady as any market I could imagine. Our prices are stubborn to correct even in the face of recessions, interest rates spikes, and the war with Iran will likely be no different.

These events simply temper our appreciation and provide short term corrections to our median price that tend to rebound as quickly as the correction occurs. When you look at ourmedian prices over a rolling 12 month average, the graph looks incredibly boring. A slow steady up and to the right trend over the last decade with a steeper climb during the pandemic years.

But if you look at the graph withmonthly data points, it looks manic and parabolic. These monthly swings are what those of us in the industry experience day in and day out. Conditions change from month to month. But one thing remains the same, there are never enough great properties for our buyers. Often we'll show a client 10 homes when they come into town, but they may only be truly interested in 1 or sometimes none. Great homes priced properly are always in short supply.

That being said, there are instances where homes in our market depreciate. We have had some folks who bought in 2021 and 2022 now selling in the current market and have sold for less than they purchased for 3 years ago. In some instances as much as 6% less. Other clients buying and then selling over the same  have seen significant appreciation, as much as $300,000.

While navigating these situations you realize how emotionally attached you become to your clients and their financial position. Watching a hard earned down payment take a beating because a sale occurred sooner than was planned is awful. There is truth to the old saying that a 5 years is the minimum amount of time you should plan to own a home. But of course, life happens, and this is not always possible.

We are seeing competitive offer situations show up again on a few select properties. But be aware, these bidding wars can quickly fizzle into nothing so don't get scared off by the threat of competition.  Buyers currently have very little appetite for this sort of thing. More than once in the last month I've been in situations where 5 or 6 offers were expected, but what actually materialized was more like 1 or 2 offers and they were hardly soaring above list price.

If you are a realtor on the sell side, be careful how you play these situations, overconfidence can do more harm than good and can throw cold water on what you imagined would be an auction at Christie's!

If you're working on the buy side, constant communication with the listing agent is critical. I find myself peppering listing agents with calls and texts sometimes twice a day to see if we need to adjust our strategy. If a home has a high level of interest and you're not receiving regular updates, the next time you hear something it's often, "sorry, we took a different offer."

Keep in mind that most home sellers are happy to take a full price offer very quickly in this market. So don't assume a property will be available for 3-4 days collecting offers. Sellers are happy to get full price or slightly above and may take a well written contract within a day of a home hitting the market.

A few weeks ago we listed a home Friday night and had three offers by Saturday and decided to sign one.  We still held the open house on Sunday because it had been heavily advertised and we knew people would show up. Let me tell you, I had about 60 angry/heartbroken buyers walk through and a few gave me a piece of their mind. I understand their frustration and can sympathize, but it's not my job to force a seller to keep their home on the market when a strong offer is sitting in their lap.

Most people don't want the drama. If they get a great offer, they're ready to be done.  Any thoughts of money possibly left on the table are overshadowed by the relief of having an accepted contract and the luxury of having no more showings!

Here are the stats for Larimer County and Weld County: Larimer's median price is down -1.7% compared to this time last year. The number of homes for sale is up 19%.

Weld County prices are down -0.1% with inventory up 4.3%. Average days on market is 60 for Larimer and 57 days for Weld. The average home in both counties is selling for 98.5% of list price. So buyers are getting 1.5% off of the list price on average.

It's the time of year when we are pricing properties across the region and are likely working on one in your neighborhood. If you're curious about your home's value, please reach out. And know that we often start discussions with home sellers a year in advance of their actual move.  

Please take a look at one of our beautiful listings. Nearly 6 acres and the final available parcel in The Meadows at Rolling Hills in Laporte, an exclusive enclave of just 14 custom home sites.Click here to view.

We have been overwhelmed with gratitude for our clients who have put their trust in us and kept our business humming during the lower than normal transaction volume of the last few years. It's been an honor to serve our friends and family in Northern Colorado through all kinds of market conditions.

Thanks for reading my market report and have a Happy Easter!