Two weeks into the 4th quarter and I’m in disbelief as to where this year has gone? Maybe that’s why Jim Croce’s lyrics of ‘Time in a Bottle’ keeps churning through my head? Undoubtedly, if I could save time in a bottle, it would be back to a simpler housing situation. For September, single-family had 25% less new listings and 43.1% less active listings; multi-family was similar with 26% less new listings and 47.9% less active listings.  Median sales price YTD now sit at $1.175M for homes and $646,740 for townhomes and condos. Buyers who have a box just for wishes of purchasing real estate in Routt County, ponder this inventory situation and wonder if this dream may never come true, or at least, in the near future?  As reported by Aldo Svaldi, Denver Post on October 11, 2012, ‘More isolated areas tend to lack active new home construction. When more buyers show up, prices can surge and gains off smaller values can look huge, even if they are still manageable. The more fundamental problem, one that was an issue before the pandemic, and one that will remain so after it passes, is an inadequate supply of homes.‘  This statement certainly rings true for Routt County and so the supply for single-family homes teeters at about two months and slightly less than a month for multi-family- both of which represent a 50% decrease from the same time last year.  There are good things on the horizon for Steamboat and Routt County both with the west-end development and the ski area – both of which will take time.  Virtues of patience and endurance will continue to be factors for Buyers for some time. Those may be the words that could make wishes come true.

Note: September 2021 statistics & info provided via the Colorado Association of Realtors, ShowingTime, ReColorado