Colorado homebuyers are gaining the upper hand in cities like Denver, where prices fell 10% since spring, but properties in ski towns are not getting any cheaper

• Single family home prices in metro Denver have fallen 10% from their record highs recorded in April 2022.
• Colorado ski towns are struggling with low housing inventory, which is keeping prices high.

The latest numbers on the Mile High City's housing market may have some sellers wondering if their property is "all hat, no cattle."

New listings for homes in the nine-county Denver metro area are up 66% when compared to October 2021, according to the October market report from the Colorado Association of Realtors. Similarly, Denver metro homes are sitting on the market for an average of 32 days, double the 16 days that homes were typically on the market a year ago.

The spike in inventory has caused home prices in Denver to come down from the record-highs that were recorded in April 2022. The median price of a single-family home in Denver has dropped by 10% to over $595,000 since April, the report indicates, while multifamily homes have seen their median prices drop by 9% to $550,000.

The numbers suggest that while the Denver housing market appears to have peaked in April, median sale prices are still up year-over-year. In metro Denver, the median sale price for single family homes is up 4.5% since last October. Statewide, the median sale price for single family homes is up nearly 5%.

While these falling prices combined with more supply may be a welcome sign to those seeking a home in the Denver area, homebuyers in Colorado's ski towns are still having a much harder time finding a house that they can afford.

In Routt County — which is home to Steamboat Springs — active single-family listings are down 22.7% since October 2021 while multifamily listings are down more than 61%. Meanwhile, the county's median sales price for single-family homes has increased by a whopping 83.5% up to $1.45 million over the same time period.

"The rise in interest rates has eliminated some would-be buyers who may now feel caught in a rental trap where they realize no financial or non-financial benefits," Marci Valicenti, a realtor who serves Routt County, said in a statement.

Tourism is top of mind for many of Colorado's ski towns

One reason Valicenti points to for the sharp decline in homebuying activity in Routt County is the ordinance Steamboat Springs passed in August to tax short term rentals like hotels. Other popular ski towns like Frisco, Dillon, and Aspen have also passed similar laws.

Steamboat is also investing heavily on increasing tourism to the town with more than $200 million in development activity happening around Steamboat Resort, Valicenti said.

The resort is currently undergoing a 650-acre expansion, which will make it the second largest resort in Colorado, and it is building "Wild Blue" — a 10-person gondola that could be the longest and fastest in the US.

Other popular ski towns like Glenwood Springs and Estes Park are having similar struggles, the report suggests.

To realtor Abbey Pontius, the issue is especially pronounced in Estes Park. Single-family homes in the city have been sitting on the market for about 46 days on average while multifamily homes are listed for an average of 88 days. Meanwhile, the average price of single-family homes in Estes have increased by 14.8% since October 2021 while the price of condos have jumped by 11.8%.

Pontius said in the Colorado Association of Realtors report that buyers are feeling more optimistic about the chances of winning a home but still anxious about what could lie ahead as recession fears loom.

"This is a welcomed refresher to catch up on things and regroup, but there is a fearful tinge to the air as the market is shifting," Pontius said to the Colorado Association of Realtors in the October report.

But there's action being taken at the state level to help even the playing field. Colorado Governor Jared Polis signed a bill last year that aimed to help tourist towns like Estes Park by allowing these towns to redirect some of their lodging tax receipts towards affordable housing.

Lucy Kay, the president and CEO of the Breckenridge Tourism Office, told the Colorado Sun in April that the bill Polis signed is one that the tourism industry would have typically opposed. But low housing inventory is creating a lot of issues for the local workforce.

"We all need housing," Kay told the Colorado Sun, adding that the bill "helps us support issues that are critical to the hospitality industry."