The year 2020 will go down in the history books as a year of uncertainty, difficulty, and stress for many around the globe. But we also experienced many silver linings attributed to the pandemic – and one of those was a booming real estate market like we’ve never seen before. Around the world, real estate records were set and broken, and the market in Steamboat Springs and Routt County was no exception. Starting around July, listings were scarcer than ever, yet moving at a pace we weren’t entirely expecting. By the end of 2020, sales volume in Routt County peaked at a shocking $1.2B.
Early on in the pandemic, many in the real estate sector feared for how it would affect the market. Would people be hesitant to buy or sell property? Are resort towns desirable in a time like this? Indeed, resort markets, Colorado mountain towns, and more suburban or rural areas began to thrive as people sought more space and fled the crowded cities that were closed down. Late spring through around June, we began to see an uptick in interest in Steamboat Springs – people buying primary or secondary homes here, and with education and work transitioning to remote operations, enrolling their kids in our schools. July through November turned into a buying frenzy like we could never have imagined.
The Steamboat Springs real estate market ended 2020 at a shocking 50% increase in sales volume over 2019. The median sales price for a single family home in Steamboat Springs surpassed the $1-million mark, landing at $1.22M. This was a 15% increase over the median sales price for a single family home in 2019. Condos in Steamboat saw their highest median sale price at $445,000 in 2020. With an incredible lack of inventory in the market yet such high demand, land sales in Steamboat (in the downtown, Fish Creek, and mountain areas) were at an all-time high at a 236% increase over 2019.
As we look ahead through 2021, many wonder if there will be a market correction. Steamboat Springs remains a very attractive place to live or own property, so experts in our market do not expect the demand to decrease. With a continued lack of inventory, we certainly need more housing, more developments, and more available listings to see numbers like in the last two quarters of 2020. Additionally, we are likely to see our beautiful surrounding communities of Hayden, Stagecoach, and Oak Creek to see growth due to their more affordable home prices and expansion out of Steamboat and into those areas.