Phil Castle, The Business Times

The commercial activity and higher residential prices that contributed to a record-breaking year for real estate in Mesa County in 2021 continues in 2022.

Compared to the same month a year ago, the overall number of sales slipped in January. But the dollar volume of those transactions soared 40 percent.

“I think it’s really still a healthy start,” said Annette Young, administrative coordinator at Heritage Title Co. in Grand Junction.

Robert Bray, chief executive officer of Bray & Co. Real Estate in Grand Junction, said he’s watching for the effects of low inventories and higher interest rates on the residential market. But he remains optimistic. “I think we’ll see a good year in real estate.”

Young said 376 real estate transactions worth a combined $163 million were reported in Mesa County in January. Compared to the same month a year ago, transactions fell 3. 8 percent. But dollar volume rose 40.5 percent.

Just 23 transactions accounted for a total of $43.5 million and most of the $47 million difference in dollar volume, Young said. Those transactions included the sale of the Best Buy retail space for $4.7 million, a Kum & Go convenience store and gas station for $4.7 million and 13 acres of vacant property north of the Canyon View Urgent Care facility for $3.65 million.

For all of 2021, the dollar volume of real estate activity rose 34.5 percent in 2021 to $2.359 billion, the highest level ever in Mesa County.

According to numbers Bray & Co. tracks for the residential real estate market in Mesa County, 212 transactions worth a total of $87.9 million were reported in January. Compared to the same month a year ago, transactions decreased 14.9 percent and dollar volume increased 5.1 percent.

The increased dollar volume reflects in part higher prices. At $377,750, the median price of homes sold in January was 28 percent higher than the same month a year ago.

Bray said sales for a single month don’t constitute a reliable indicator. Nonetheless, home prices have increased over the past two years, he said: up 15 percent for 2021 over 2020 and up 12 percent for 2020 over 2019.

A combination of low supplies and strong demand has pushed prices higher, he said.

The 202 active residential listings at the end of January represented a 9.4 percent drop from the same time last year and the lowest number Bray said he’s seen in his long career in real estate.

Bray said some seasonality has returned to the Mesa County real estate market, meaning sales and inventories likely will remain lower until activity picks up again in the spring.

Young said she suspects some potential buyers have put off searching for homes, fatigued by higher prices and limited choices.

In the meantime, though, the pace of new home construction has accelerated, Bray said. For January, 63 building permits for single family homes were issued in Mesa County. That’s a gain of  21 percent over the same month last year and the third highest number for a January in the past 15 years.

Young and Bray said they expect higher interest rates on mortgages could push some potential buyers out of the market and in turn affect sales. But even with increases, interest rates remain comparatively low. Moreover, Mesa County offers lower home prices than many of the metropolitan areas from which some people have relocated, Bray said.

Young said she expects property foreclosure activity to pick up. For January, six foreclosure filings and one foreclosure sale were reported in Mesa County. There were no filings or sales for January 2021.