Traditionally, homeownership has been seen as a settling down process. Single or married, with or without family, buying a home is the planting of roots in a community. Becoming part of something bigger than yourself, buying a home says, “I have a future here."
By becoming an integral part of a community you gain many advantages in return. Schools, medical facilities, auto repair shops, grocery stores, and retail outlets. All of these are real estate fields that yield a harvest to those who invest in them. Not to wax overly emotional, but real estate is as crucial to the health of any community as vital organs are to the health of our bodies! A body cannot thrive without a strong beating heart, and a community cannot thrive without a strong base of homeowners.
Whatever your motivation for becoming a homeowner, the stage of life you are in will impact what type of home you will shop for when the time to buy arrives. As an example, first time home buyers, perhaps because they tend to be younger and at the beginning of their careers, usually purchase smaller houses. The idea is to trade up to a larger home as life circumstances change. Making more money, adding family members and even social considerations change living arrangement needs.
Recent studies have uncovered that multi-generational home demand is greater than ever. We aren’t talking about the standard multi-family building, but a single family home built to accommodate two or more generations. This style home allows privacy but provides the inhabitants with commonly shared spaces.
We don’t have specific statistics on how many of the 9487 homes available for purchase in the Colorado front range this past April fit that description, but we do know 6294 people made the decision to become part of the community, closing on a home this past month. Sales prices were slightly higher than last year, at an average of $493,860. With average Days on Market sitting at 37, real estate activity remains strong and growing. Increasing inventory is easing the stress for home buyers, and new home construction is a welcome addition to inventory.
Though new homes are generally more expensive than purchasing an existing home, affordable mortgage interest rates appear to be inspiring strong sales numbers. The appeal of choosing your own color scheme, flooring options, appliances, kitchen and bath upgrades and designs combined with affordability all contribute to a busy market.
For the past several years we’ve seen builders primarily targeting high-end properties. The main issue was that there was more demand for new homes among luxury buyers following the housing crash of the early 2000s. It took builders a few seasons of playing catch up, but the good news this spring, for those interested in brand new homes that may not have a luxury-home budget, is that construction has surged and there are homes in more affordable price ranges available.
On the opposite end of multi-generational, smaller single family homes are trending. However, small doesn’t mean tiny or cramped. This refers to less square footage with an emphasis on allowing natural light to flood the space. Also trending are Smart features you can control from your Smartphone. Thermostats, appliances, garage doors and lighting top the list of wants for new build buyers. With an eye on prices, practicality, multi-generational and energy efficiency, the real estate marketplace all along the Front Range continues to move in a positive direction this spring.