MARKET SNAPSHOT
POST & BEAM
STEAMBOAT’S RESIDENTIAL SALES BAROMETER
This graphic summarizes Steamboat Springs real estate market statistics for October 2020, as provided by the Steamboat Springs Board of Realtors.
2020 was a bit of a wild ride for the Steamboat Springs real estate market. Heading into 2020 we had a strong and healthy market. The first quarter actually saw a nice increase of 15% in residential sales volume year-over-year.
Then COVID hit and everything hit the breaks. In the second quarter, residential sales volume dropped 44% as compared to 2019. However, the values of homes stayed steady during the slowdown, and the median price-per-square-foot actually went up by 5%.
Then, as if someone flipped a switch, we were back! Several theories to why, but one is that with more people being given the freedom to work remotely, many would choose to live outside of urban areas. The mountain towns like Steamboat are there to fill that need. For many, this was the opportunity they had been waiting for, to fulfill their dream of living full-time in the mountains, while for others, it was a second home for extended stays.
With the “switch”, sales volume ramped up quickly. The inventory was already low, and with an increase in buyers’ demand, the prices went up. The market also got a boost from historically low-interest rates, which made up for those higher costs by giving buyers more purchasing flexibility.
During the third quarter of 2020, the median sales price was up 19% compared to the third quarter of 2019, the median sales price was up 19%, the residential sales volume was up a whopping 100% and the available residential inventory at the end of the third quarter was less than half of the prior year.
How long will our current market trend continue? How will the possibility of future Coronavirus shutdowns affect our market? No one knows for sure, the demand remains very high, and there are no indications of that changing. With high demand and limited inventory, the market could continue to stay strong, but if all this has taught us anything, it is that there are many unknowns.
