May SalesMay sales saw land and residential property closings lagging a little but pricing and days on the market are still strong.  Inventory is beginning to build.  This summer’s sales will help to paint a picture of what’s to come in 2019 for the Summit County real estate market.

Residential Sales

This May there were 147 residential sales in Summit County.  The average sales price was $763,018. 17.7% of May sales were priced at $1,000,000 or higher and 23% were at $400,000 or less.  The highest sale was a single family home in Breckenridge that sold for $3,400,000 and the lowest a studio condo in Silverthorne for $179,900.  In May, residential properties sold for 98.4% of list price. The highest sales price per square foot was a 415 square foot condo by the Snowflake lift in Breckenridge that sold for a whopping $1,084 per square foot.  At the other extreme was both sides of a duplex that sold for almost $217 per square foot.  Properties sold quickly with 68.7% going under contract within the first 30 days on the market.  17% did hang around a while, taking 90 days or more to sell.  Of the 147 May sales, 23% were cash purchases.

May Sales 2018 vs. 2017

May sales in 2018 had 13.5% fewer residential sales than May 2017, however, the average sale price went up 6% from $719,584 in May of 2017.  One reason for both stats may be the inventory.  There are 14.1% fewer residential properties on the market compared to the same time in 2017.  Summit County has had a limited supply of inventory all year long.  Inventory has been climbing gradually since March with more significant strides coming in the last month.  We expect the inventory to continue to grow throughout the summer, as will sales, and probably prices.

Land Sales

There were 10 land sales in Summit County in May.  7 of those were in Breckenridge.  All were single family home lots and, with the exception of one, all under 1 acre of land. The average sale price was $309,850.  Half of the sales were on the market for 60 days or less, the other half for more than 6 months.  80% were cash purchases and on average, sold for 92.2% of list price.  Land sales were down compared to May 2017 when there were 14 sales.  Even with a slower May, year to date land sales are still up 40%.

So far this year, the number of land sales is rising, and the number of residential sales is declining slightly.  An increase in land sales is a typical trend in a strong housing market when homes are tough to find and building your own becomes more appealing.  The decline in residential sales is likely a result of low inventory.  A couple of months of summer sales should give us a better picture to determine if buyer demand is still as strong as it has been.