Growing up in Maine was crazy awesome sometimes on so many levels! Besides the coast, lakes and streams, the fiddleheads and lady slippers and the mountains in the mist, Maine had and still has the season of all seasons: fall and its epic foliage. Yeah, that meant summer was over and school started up after Labor Day, but I’ll never forget the glory of Maine in the fall with all the colors in the landscape and and textures of the town—once the tourists blasted off back to the flatlands in their Wagoneers and Volvos. Even as a kid, I remember taking it all in, a tingling of all the senses where the cool breeze and short days replaced the summer vibe and where maple leaves wave goodbye.
This fall, Colorado is giving Maine a run for its maple leaf money—oh my, it has been a rainbow record for spectral colors. The warmth of summer slips and I surrender to the cold. And I am ready..
The real estate market is also in a transition. In the summer of 2022, higher interest rates threatened the affordability for many home buyers and the drop in demand has caused a palpable lull in the marketplace. The first half of 2022 brought home buyers ready, willing, and able to compete for almost every home that hit the market. As we look at 3rd quarter numbers in 2023 compared year over year, we see a great stall from 2022 through 2023. In most cases today our home sellers have to be competitive with price, sometimes starting at 5% or 10% less than a year ago and expect to wait on the market a little longer.
The data collected can be quite different from area to area and product to product and some of that is linked to the fact that areas with fewer sales offer more volatility in their resulting data. Regardless of small differences in the data from area to area, know that the market is acting slower across all areas and that buyers seem to have the negotiating power in most case. Like any market, things change from city to city and from neighborhood to neighborhood but the stoke is high for 2024 with predictable lower interest rates and an opening up of activity. But it’s likely to be a long winter. If you’ve been on the sidelines as a buyer or seller maybe it’s time to act, 'cause if you let the moment pass, you should try it once again! It’s never too late to late to buy or sell.
I had a few listings this fall that saw buyers come in hot with strong prices and great terms. One of them in South Boulder had three offers with the winning offer at 8% over asking price. And we even set the high water mark with our price for the neighborhood at the time of listing. It was exciting to go there in this “weird” market. Cross your fingers it closes next week!
This month I’m featuring charitable organization called the WaterWheel Foundation. The WaterWheel Foundation chooses non-profits from a large sphere of needs including social services, primarily those benefiting women and children; environmental, with a focus on clean water and land conservation with public access; as well as food banks, urban gardening and the like. WaterWheel’s Touring Division has donated over $2,500,000 to more than 500 groups. Please give today!
Happy Halloween and don’t let the housing market spook you! and don’t forget to SMILE!
HATCH
Realtor®, RE/MAX Lifetime Achievement®, RE/MAX Hall of Fame®, GRI®, ABR®
RE/MAX of Boulder
303-513-2834
hatch@boulderco.com
http://www.jonhatch.com
Lead photo: East Boulder ash tree, by Jon Hatch