Phil Castle, Business Times

Real estate activity continues to slow in Mesa County compared to what was a more active market a year ago.

But sales picked up between February and March, a trend that’s expected to continue into the spring and summer as pent-up demand counters the effects of higher interest rates on mortgages.

Robert Bray, chief executive officer of Bray & Co. Real Estate in Grand Junction, said he anticipated what could become  “fairly intense” activity given competition for what remains low residential inventories.

Annette Young, administrative coordinator at Heritage Title Co. in Grand Junction, welcomed month-to-month increases in transactions and dollar volume. Year-over-year comparisons won’t be as meaningful until the second half of the year, she said.

Young said 328 real estate transactions worth a total of $136 million were reported in Mesa County in March. That’s up from 212 transactions worth a combined $83 million in February. Compared to March 2022, however, transactions and dollar volume were both down about 33 percent.

Eight transactions worth a collective $17 million bolstered dollar volume in March 2023, Young said, including the sales of the Rocky Mountain Gun Club and shooting range for $6.25 million, an industrial and manufacturing facility for nearly $2.4 million and an orchard with a fruit stand and residences for $2.2 million. Still, 15 transactions worth a total of $31 million were reported for the same month last year.

For the first quarter of 2023, 754 transactions worth a total of $312 million were reported. That’s down about 38 percent from the first quarter of 2022, a decline Young attributed to higher interest rates on mortgages that make real estate less affordable.

According to numbers Bray & Co. tracks for the residential real estate market in Mesa County, 253 transactions worth a total of more than $105 million were reported in March. Compared to the same month a year ago, transactions declined 24.9 percent and dollar volume fell 23.8 percent.

Through the first quarter of 2023, 558 transactions worth a total of nearly $227 million were reported. Compared to the first quarter of 2022, transactions and dollar volume were both down about 29 percent.

“Interest rates are really driving most of that,” Bray said.

Otherwise, the economy remains strong and so does demand, he said.

Stewart Cruickshank, sales manager at Bray & Co., agreed. “We do know there is pent-up demand.” Houses priced at below $400,000 often draw multiple offers, Cruickshank said.

As of the end of March, there were 433 active residential listings in Mesa County. That’s up nearly 86 percent from a year ago, but has declined to its lowest level since May and constitutes only a 2.8-month supply at the current pace of sales.

New home construction continues to lag as a result of higher interest rates and uncertainty, Bray said. Through the first quarter of 2023, 102 building permits for single family homes were issued in Mesa County. That’s less than half the 237 permits issued during the first quarter of 2022.

The combination of continued demand and less supply could push prices back up. The median price of homes sold in Mesa County in the first quarter of 2023 slipped $3,000 to $365,000 compared to the same quarter in 2022. But the median price of homes sold in March edged up $3,000 to $370,000 compared to the same month a year ago.

Property foreclosure activity remains low, Young said.

For the first quarter of 2023, 66 foreclosure filings and eight sales were reported. That’s down from 80 filings and seven sales for the first quarter of 2022.