September 2023 in the Northern Colorado housing market brought us new statistics that continue to highlight how attractive NoCo is for potential buyers. In news reported by At Home Colorado, Boulder and Fort Collins ranked in the top 5 for best housing markets for growth and stability. Meanwhile, four of the five most expensive “non-coastal” metros are now in Colorado, according to Builder.com, with Denver ranking highest (no surprise!) and Boulder, Fort Collins and Greeley all topping the charts. So, what happened this past month in our NoCo market?
The market continued to cool, rebalancing itself in ways we haven’t seen in years, which is a much-needed refresh for those looking to relocate to NoCo and have the luxury of time to do so. In Fort Collins, home sales continued to drop from 170 in 2022 to 133 detached sales last month, lower than the month prior at 159. Attached homes were in the same boat, decreasing from 55 in 2022 to 44 in September, an overall 20 percent decline. The current average sale price in Fort Collins now stands at $682,735, which is higher than last month’s $662,458, but down very slightly at .10 percent from the year prior. The same goes for the average percent of original listing, which also found itself .20 percent down from last year at 97.2 percent. Up, however, was the average days on the market which stood at 53 this month, a 26.19 percent increase from last year’s craze, indicating again that buyers are taking their time to make decisions.
Moving onward to Loveland, the situation in the housing market also pointed towards more cooling of the market, with 92 detached homes being sold last month in comparison to the 129 in 2022, a 28.68 percent decrease. However, the average sales price upticked at 2.71 percent to $612,396, and the average percent of original list price stayed nearly neutral with last year’s at only a .72 percent decline. Loveland is, by all accounts, still an attractive city to many people looking for an alternative to the more expensive locations in Northern Colorado.
Nestled near the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains, Windsor followed suit with other NoCo cities with the average days on the market increasing a whopping 30.95 percent, a signal of the changing seasons and general cooling in the market. The average detached home price rose slightly from last year to $713,479. a year-over-year increase of 1.19 percent. Closed sales in the detached market were down by only 2.33 percent in September, totaling 42. Meanwhile, the attached market again saw a relatively consistent performance with 16 sales in September 2023, compared to 10 in 2022.
Boulder unsurprisingly saw a similar trend, aligning with the broader market’s balancing act. Closed detached sales were down by 25.57 percent, which was more than last month’s 15.77 percent, with the average sales price experiencing a dip from last month as well from $1,054,899 in August 2023 to $1,021,872.
“The Northern Colorado housing market demonstrates the allure of NoCo for potential buyers,” said Sarah Tyler, Managing Broker at Kentwood Real Estate Northern Properties. “With top rankings in growth and stability, our region continues to shine. The market is always evolving and is currently offering a refreshing change for those considering moving to Northern Colorado.”
Overall, the real estate landscape continues to evolve and balance from the craze of the pandemic years. Over the past seven months, inventory has been steadily increasing in Colorado, which means more options for buyers. Yet, the data reflects that demand is softening and will likely continue to soften as we embark on the holiday season ahead of us.
*Updated October 17, 2023