Phil Castle, The Business Times

Even as rising interest rates on mortgages and seasonal slowing curtail real estate transactions in Mesa County, higher prices and big commercial deals push the collective dollar volume upward.

While 2022 might not keep pace with a record-breaking 2021, the market remains strong overall, local industry observers say.

“It’s still a healthy market,” said Robert Bray, chief executive officer of Bray & Co. Real Estate based in Grand Junction.

Annette Young, administrator coordinator at Heritage Title Co. in Grand Junction, said the latest numbers constitute a case in point. “I think that was a pretty solid May.”

Young said 520 real estate transactions worth a total of $236 million were reported in Mesa County for the month. Compared to May 2021, transactions declined 5.3 percent even as dollar volume surged 27.6 percent.

Just 24 transactions accounted for a collective $43 million, Young said. That included the sale of one commercial office building on Horizon Court in Grand Junction for more than $6.3 million and another building on Horizon Court for $3.1 million. A hotel on Horizon Drive sold for $5 million.

Through the first five months of 2022, 2,195 transactions worth an accumulative $940 million were reported. Compared to the same span in 2021, transactions fell 8 percent and dollar volume rose 16.5 percent. Ninety-one transactions in 2022 accounted for a total of $180 million, Young said.

According to numbers Bray & Co. tracks for the residential real estate market in Mesa County, 322 transactions worth a total of nearly $139 million were reported in May. Compared to the same month a year ago, transactions retreated 10.3 percent and dollar volume advanced 3 percent.

For the first five months of 2022, 1,424 residential transactions worth a total of more than $594 million were reported. Compared to the same span in 2021, transactions dropped 11.3 percent and dollar volume climbed 5 percent.

Bray said rising interest rates on mortgages have affected transactions. The difference would be more profound, he said, except nearly half of transactions involved cash rather than financing.

Moreover, some seasonality has returned to the Mesa County market, he said. May closings reflect transactions in March and April and what’s usually a slower time of year.

Fewer sales helped bolster inventory. At the end of May, there were 365 active listings. That’s up 68.2 percent over the same time a year ago. That means more selection for buyers, Bray said.

Prices continue to rise, however. The median price of homes sold during the first five months of 2022 climbed to $380,000 up 19.1 percent from the same span in 2021.

Given the prospect of even higher interest rates affecting the ability of some buyers to obtain financing, Bray said he expects residential activity to continue to slow. Prices will continue to rise, but at slower pace, he said.

Commercial activity typically lags behind residential activity and likely will remain strong, Bray said.

Meanwhile, property foreclosure filings continue to increase in Mesa County.

Young said 16 foreclosure filings were reported in May, bringing to 120 the filings through the first five months of 2022. In contrast, there were eight filings during the same span last year.

Filings have increased since the forbearance imposed as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic ended, she said.

A lot of those filings will be withdrawn, however, as owners with equity sell before the foreclosure process is completed, she said.

The four resales of foreclosed property during the first five months of 2022 constituted less than 1 percent of all transactions, below the 10 percent threshold Young considers indicative of a healthy real estate market.