The national housing news continues to be bad.  Every day each of us hears or sees another story about how much sales and prices are down, how much foreclosures are up and in general how bad the real estate market is across the U.S. So is Pueblo West doing its part to be with the trend?  The answer seems to be “yes – just a little”.  Just like we never experienced the huge price increases and sales boom, we are not suffering as badly as some areas. 

The following trends summarize 2008 compared to 2007 for Pueblo West residential properties.  Information is based on Pueblo Association of Realtors data. 

561 houses sold in 2008 compared to 666 in 2007, a decrease of 16% in number of sales.  There was however some good news on the supply side with a total of 1127 new listings, compared to 1194 in 2007.  That’s a 6% decrease in supply.  However, that also means 566 houses that were listed did not sell compared to 528 unsold in 2007.  For the market to get back in balance sales need to increase and new listings slow down even more. 

The “over-supply” of houses “For Sale” finally had the expected effect on prices.  The average price for houses sold in 2008 was $170,366 which was down 5% from the year before.  In looking at the trends, however,  it appears the low point may have been the 4th quarter of 2007 & the 1st quarter of 2008.  The 3 quarters since that time are generally up.  Time will tell if this trend continues.   Foreclosures & short sales continue to have a major impact on prices. 

The average time to sell a house is up by about 4% to 132 days.  This hasn’t changed greatly even with the slow down.  This figure however is based only on houses that actually sell.  So the ones that are over-priced, and do not show well don’t factor into this number.  Otherwise it would be much greater. 

New construction had the largest slow-down. .  For 2008, 394 single family building permits were issued in Pueblo County, compared to 665 in 2007 & 1190 in 2006. 43% (171) of those permits were in Pueblo West.   

The conclusion is the market is not dead, but has slowed some, and forecasts indicate this might last for maybe a year? For buyers this is a rare opportunity!  The combination of lower prices, very low interest rates & a huge selection of property should have buyers feeling like “a kid in a candy store”!  First time buyers, savvy investors & move-up buyers should endeavor to not miss this golden opportunity.  It may be many years before we have another “perfect storm” for house buying!

 If you need to sell, you will need to stack the deck in your favor & have your property in good condition, price it right, make it easy to show, and make sure it’s marketed effectively.  If so your chances for success are good.  You may have to sell for a little less than at the peak, however chances are whatever you’re buying will also be less!   An especially important factor for move-up buyers!

Prepared by TeamSELLe, RE/MAX Pueblo West, Inc., 719-547-1710, February 12, 2009