Inman

Real estate slowdown hits Colorado

Home sales across Colorado were down 7.2 percent in October compared to the same month last year, while the statewide median home price lost 2.1 percent, according to statistics released by the Colorado Association of Realtors.

Realtors recorded 6,460 home sales in October, down from 6,953 a year earlier, while the median home price fell during the period from $243,627 to $238,511.

The most dramatic decline in sales activity occurred in Montrose, a western Colorado town, where sales plummeted 86 percent between October ’05 and October ’06 — from 488 to 70 — while the median sales price of a home sank 1.6 percent to $193,333.

Despite the statewide slowing, sales in the Denver metropolitan area gained 4 percent year-over-year for the month, rising from 3,153 sales in October 2005 to 3,284 sales this October. The area’s median home price, however, came in at $247,459, off 1.3 percent from the year-ago median of $250,822.

In Fort Collins, a large college town in northern Colorado, sales rose 11 percent — from 209 to 235 — while the median sales price dipped 1.5 percent to $239,925.