The market is dead - Long live the market!

With almost no homes for sale, prices keep ignoring the 10 consecutive interest hikes that the FED implemented. How does this general trend impact each town of the Roaring Fork Valley?

All indicators of the sale volume are absolutely depressed: New listings are down 16.2% from last year, which was already a record year for a slow market. 40 days on the market is barely enough time to go through the sale process.. Due to appraisers being faster than last year, we’ve been able to close under 30 days even with financing which might help lower the days on market.

Affordability is long gone!

It’s hard to grasp how disastrous the 29 affordability index number is. The affordability index puts in relation the average price of a home and the average income. This is how the Colorado association of Realtor describes how to read the index:

“When the Index first started being tracked in February of 2014, The Denver Metro Region was scored at a 121 – meaning the average person made 21 more points than was necessary to be approved for a mortgage for the average home”

An affordability index of 29 makes most homes completely unattainable for most locals. This is the result of prices creeping up while interest rates were skyrocketing. This is only sustainable if the inventory stays low.

Main takeaways per town

ASPEN: The median sales prices dropped over 17% compared to May 2022. Out of only 10 sales this month though, you can hardly jump to conclusions from this stat.

SNOWMASS VILLAGE: Nothing to see there, only 4 sales occurred last month in Snowmass Village! May of 2022, when there was only… One!

MISSOURI HEIGHTS: Same issue as Basalt, but prices went up 50% as compared to May of 2022. It goes to show how the extremely low sales volume makes it hard to see trends in the monthly stats. How would Basalt go down 75% and Missouri Heights go up 50% in the same month?!

CARBONDALE: With 18 sales closed last month in the town of Carbondale, and average prices going up 30%, Carbondale reiterates how attractive it is!

REDSTONE: 0 sales last month…

GLENWOOD: another month goes by in Glenwood where both average and median sales prices are above a million… Like I said, affordability is down the drain!

NEW CASTLE: In reaction to Glenwood being unattainable for most people, New Castle is ramping up. The median sale price last month was $735,000…

SILT: In a dormant market, there were only 9 sales in Silt last month. The median price hovers around $500k.

RIFLE: For a more affordable option, look in Rifle where the median price of a single family home is close to $450,000.

Full stats per town below: