real estate market, still going up? (Colorado Springs, Green Mountain Falls: relocate, foreclosure, military)

[Jubi_Ash]

Hello
We are looking to relocate around the Green Mountain Falls area of COS in a couple of years. At 1st we were looking to go to the mountain areas of Portland OR, but due to the lower cost of real estate in COS, safer neighborhoods, and transfer available with my job, we easily changed our minds. One concern I have is the market stability. Here, where we live in the Austin TX area (Bastrop), the market has been slow ever since we purchased our home about 3 years ago. It's been a buyer's market. I have noticed that the market for COS has gone up in price within the last few years. Is it still going up? Or has it now leveled off? Is it a buyer's or seller's market? Our price range will be around $200k, and the houses I'm finding are already that price. I'm worried they will be out of my price range in 2 years. Any predictions?
-Emily

[shannon94]

Originally Posted by Jubi_Ash

Hello
We are looking to relocate around the Green Mountain Falls area of COS in a couple of years. At 1st we were looking to go to the mountain areas of Portland OR, but due to the lower cost of real estate in COS, safer neighborhoods, and transfer available with my job, we easily changed our minds. One concern I have is the market stability. Here, where we live in the Austin TX area (Bastrop), the market has been slow ever since we purchased our home about 3 years ago. It's been a buyer's market. I have noticed that the market for COS has gone up in price within the last few years. Is it still going up? Or has it now leveled off? Is it a buyer's or seller's market? Our price range will be around $200k, and the houses I'm finding are already that price. I'm worried they will be out of my price range in 2 years. Any predictions?
-Emily

I would say it's leveling off now, if not dropping in price soon. The foreclosure rate out there is unreal right now. Have you done any research on their economy lately? Might be a good thing to do.

[Mike from back east]

My neighbor is a realtor and says she isn't taking new listings, can't sell them, says there are 5,000 homes listed in El Paso County, which is the area all around Colorado Springs. New homes are selling a bit but resale is not a good scene, may be a buyer's market here soon if not already.

Who knows what next year will bring, could be a soft landing, or a hard one. The city has a good deal of Federal / Defense money, which helps make a city recession-proof, like DC, but still we could see prices dip a bit.

s/Mike

[Jubi_Ash]

thanks for the replies. Here is an article I found that says risk of prices falling there are slim. I'm surprised to hear that houses aren't selling.

http://www.multifamilyinvestment.com/apt2.htm

under
Recent Articles on the Colorado Springs Economy:
"Jan18,06 - Study; House Buying in City is Low Risk"

-Emily

[CSColorado]

We still have just about the same amount of sales as last year at this time. However, we have a lot more inventory on the market. Sales are just down by 300 homes, but with over 6,000 homes on the market now, we have over 1,500 more homes on the market than a year ago. Listings are still selling fine as long as they are priced well and show nicely. The only listing that I have had sitting a few months now is in Peyton- 30 minutes out of town. My other listings this fall still sold in 4-8 weeks. Yes, prices are leveling off and will probably drop a little. But, I think it's a short term thing that is due largely to higher interest rates this last year. We still have people moving here, we have a great employment rate, and good high-paying jobs coming to town- not to mention the military. I expect we'll be a hot spot within the next few years here.

[bashep]

I agree with C/SColorado. If the house is priced right it can sell quickly. I sold a house about 3 weeks ago in 4 days. But I too had houses out in Peyton that never sold. Partly because the owner did not want to drop the price, the owners ended up renting it out. SO, if you are moving here, it is a good time because it is definitely a buyer's market. SHEP

[cluckk]

Here is a link to a pdf on the CS Market from Realtor.org:
http://www.realtor.org/Research.nsf/files/06COColoradoSprings.pdf/$FILE/06COColoradoSprings.pdf

[Pax_Avatar]

I bought a house in the Springs last November. And am located very central CS. Within the last month a half dozen houses in my neighborhood have sold .... each 10-25K more than I paid...each smaller models than my own.

[Mike from back east]

Local paper reports today that new home permits for Oct 2006 are down 40% from Oct 2005.

Builders are offering all sorts of incentives to sell about 250+ finished homes that are just sitting.

http://www.gazette.com/display.php?id=1326009&secid=1

s/Mike

[Mike from back east]

Article in today's paper on state of the local housing industry. http://www.gazette.com/display.php?id=1327231&secid=1

A buyer's market at this point, with some softening of prices in the area, and some foreclosed homes may be well priced.

Many builders are offering strong inducements to sell unsold spec homes.

s/Mike