Monday, March 02, 2009
Looking over the sales statistics from January 2009, dollar volume in sales has declined substantially. Setting a 5-year low, total dollar volume sold in Routt County was just over $23 million for January 2009. For the same month in 2008, dollars sold was over $80 million.
Total transactions for the month of January actually saw a spike however. January 2009 saw 176 total transactions whereas in 2008 we had only 136. It seems odd to have more transactions but less than a third in dollar volume sold until you see that the bulk of the transactions (160) were made on ‘interval’ and ‘timeshare’ units. It looks like the bulk of the activity came in the form of fractional ownership. Perhaps the lower price to entry or ability to more easily make a cash offer are some reasons as to why.
Of the 11 “Residential Improved Units Sold” in Steamboat for January 2009, 4 of them were for properties priced at $500,000 or less. Another 4 occurred on property priced between $700,000 and $900,000. There weren’t any transactions recorded for properties sold between $1.5-$3 million but one sale recorded at $4.1 million.
Price reductions and “best buys” seem to have become more prevalent with sellers that are getting more motivated to sell. Buyers are looking for deals and want to smell blood in the water before making an offer. This has created some tremendous buying opportunities both in town and around the surrounding area.
We still don’t know for certain when the true “bottom” will hit but it looks like the current market adjustments are inching us ever closer. Showing activity remains high and local banks are still able to offer financing programs for qualified buyers. Local lenders accounted for nearly 25% of all loans recorded in January 2009.
