Will House Prices Go Down in Fort Collins Colorado?

January 12, 2021 by lisaodwyerrealtor In Uncategorized Leave a comment

Fort Collins is in the Front Range Area of Colorado, and is one of the top cities to live in the state and in the United States. Livability just named Fort Collins the Number One Most Liveable City for 2020. Colorado has been one of the top 10 states for inward migration for several years now. It’s Number Five in the US News Best Places to Live in the USA. So what happens when a place has more people moving into it than housing supply? Yes, the price of property increases.

We see the last 10 years of property sales price in Fort Collins in the graph above. I just pulled this off of the local MLS (the Multiple Listing Service is where real estate agents list property). In 2010, the population of Fort Collins was around 145,000. In 2015, it was 160,000. And in 2020, it was 175,000. The population in Colorado and Fort Collins continues to grow.

If you have been to Fort Collins, you will know that there is not much land left to build houses on. That is why you see most new construction happening in the farmland of small towns surrounding the city, like Timnath, Windsor, Wellington, and Severance. The city of Fort Collins is still popular though as not everyone wants to live in the suburban towns.

What does that mean for property prices? The property prices will continue to move upward if people still want to move here. Fort Collins has 300 days of sunshine, a great system of paved bike trails and hiking trails/area, wonderful natural areas, a top school system, and an educated populace.

Property prices will continue to rise here while there is lack of inventory. Look at the graph of inventory from 2010-2020 below. It shows how a lack of inventory corresponds with a growth in prices. This is classic supply versus demand. And shows how prices will continue to increase if Fort Collins continues to be an attractive place to live and a place that people want to move to.

With Covid-19, we have seen historically low inventory here in Fort Collins. Perhaps sellers are waiting until the pandemic ends to list. This is at the same time that mortgage rates have also hit an all-time low. We need more supply of housing in Fort Collins to meet the demand.

There were 366 properties listed in December 2019 in Fort Collins. The Winter months are usually the low inventory months here in Fort Collins.

But this year it is abnormally low inventory. In December 2020 we had 182. The time to list your home is now. There is not much inventory and prices have gone up. Buyers are ready to buy with low 2.6% 30 year mortgages. If you are wanting to sell your house in 2021, please contact me ASAP for a free Comparative Market Analysis and report of what you can sell your house for.