By Bill Aceto
Last time, Real Estate in the High Country looked at the sales numbers for the first quarter of 2023. This time, as promised, we’re going to be looking at more than just pricing statistics for the same time period. All data is courtesy of the High Country Association of REALTORS and the High Country Multiple Listing Service.
Inventory of active listings in 2023 was the lowest for the first quarter of the past five years. First quarter Active Listings for 2023 was 48,064 compared to the slightly higher number for 2022 of 49,014 and much lower than the highest of the past five years, first quarter of 2018 with 54,585 Active Listings.
Surprisingly, the average days on market is down for the first quarter 2023, compared to 2022 and 2021.
| Month | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 |
| Jan | 193 | 222 | 183 |
| Feb | 236 | 215 | 184 |
| Mar | 254 | 257 | 205 |
The median sales price for a home in January 2023 was $254,000, February 2023 was $270,000, and March 2023 was $289,000. Despite the grumblings and rumblings about the market being “off” or “falling,” these are the highest median numbers for a first quarter in the High Country in ten years. The median price in January 2022 was $250,000. The highest median price over the past ten years was $325,000 in September of 2022.
The Close Price to List Price Ratio is down from 2022 for all three months of the first quarter, but February of 2023 Close Price to List Price Ratio is actually a bit higher than February of 2021.
| Month | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 |
| Jan | 96.40% | 97.40% | 95.30% |
| Feb | 94.80% | 96.40% | 95.90% |
| Mar | 96.90% | 97.60% | 96.20% |
Looking at the average sales price for the past five years, there is a clear rise from year to year, with the only inconsistency being a drop from February 2019’s average of $308,858 to February 2020’s average of $254,309; but that is an anomaly compared to the rest of the numbers. It is odd though, that, again comparing a February, this time 2022 to 2023, the smallest gain in average is seen, from $371,687 to $372,72.
| Month | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 |
| Jan | $219,696 | $229,284 | $290,410 | $306,611 | $368,228 | $396,107 |
| Feb | $230,777 | $308,858 | $254,309 | $335,615 | $371,687 | $372,772 |
| Mar | $211,136 | $241,656 | $256,583 | $307,066 | $354,790 | $401,677 |
Finally, looking at volume for the first quarter of the past five years, it is not much of a surprise to see 2021 and 2022 are currently outpacing 2023; however, comparing the numbers for 2023 to 2018-2020, it is plain to see the High Country is still experiencing a healthy real estate market.
Until next time!
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