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Annual High Country Association of Realtor Sales on Pace for Another Growth Year

For the month, there were 233 homes worth $6678 million sold by realtors in the four-county area, as recorded by the High Country Multiple Listing Service. The average price for the month – total value divided by total sales – was $286,593, a high for the year.

With two months remaining in 2017, local Realtors® are slightly ahead of last year’s sales pace, 1,785 to 1,763. That’s a 1.2 percent increase year over year. With regard to value, Realtors have this year so far sold $461.47 million in property, up 5.8 percent from the first 10 months of 2016.

If trends continue, 2017 will extend to seven the number of consecutive years sales have increased year-to-year. In 2010, local Realtors sold 939 homes total.

Inventory levels are down to where they were in April. As of November 18, there were 2,036 active listings within the MLS, down from the year high of about 2,430 in mid-August.

As sales have remained steady, interest rates have slowly climbed. As of November 16, the 30-year fixed rate was 3.95 percent, according to loan giant Freddie Mac. The rate peaked at 4.3 percent in mid-March, and steadily fell to 3.78 percent by mid-August. It’s been trending upward since.

A year ago the rate jumped from 3.57 percent to 3.97 percent a week after the election (November 17).

The 15-year fixed rate is 3.31 percent.

Bankrate.com, which puts out a weekly mortgage rate trend index, found that half of the experts it surveyed say rates will remain relatively stable in the coming week.

Nationally, inventory remains tight and activity muted due to hurricanes earlier this year. For September, the most recent month in which national statistics are available, existing home sales were up .7 percent. That was the second smallest month-to-month growth of the year, and below the 1.5 percent increase from August to September 2016.

“Home sales in recent months remain at their lowest level of the year and are unable to break through, despite considerable buyer interest in most parts of the country,” said Lawrence Yun, National Association of Realtors chief economist. “Realtors® this fall continue to say the primary impediments stifling sales growth are the same as they have been all year: not enough listings – especially at the lower end of the market – and fast-rising prices that are straining the budgets of prospective buyers.”

The median existing-home price for all housing types in September was $245,100, up 4.2 percent from September 2016 ($235,200).