Phil Castle, The Business Times

Two trends continue in the Mesa County real estate market — decreasing transactions and increasing dollar volume.

It’s a function in part of low supplies pushing prices higher in the face of continued demand, said Annette Young, administrative coordinator at Heritage Title Co. in Grand Junction. “That basically is the story of the day.”

But Robert Bray, chief executive officer of Bray & Co. Real Estate in Grand Junction, also sees the return of some seasonality to the local market with slowing in the winter months. Rising interest rates on mortgages also could exert more of an effect later this year, he said. “Stay tuned.”

Young said 336 real estate transactions worth a total of $140 million were reported in Mesa County in February. Compared to the same month last year, transactions fell 3.4 percent and dollar volume rose 14.8 percent.

Just 13 transactions accounted for a combined $26.3 million, Young said. They included the sale of the Mesa View mobile home park for $4.3 million, Ramada Inn property for $3.8 million and 14 acres of commercially zoned vacant land for $3.6 million.

For the first two months of 2022, 712 transactions worth a total of $303 million were reported. Compared to the same span in 2021, transactions fell 8.1 percent and dollar volume rose 27.3 percent.

According to numbers Bray & Co. tracks for the residential real estate market in Mesa County, 220 transactions worth a total of more than $90.5 million were reported in February. Compared to the same month last year, transactions decreased 16.7 percent and dollar volume increased 7.6 percent.

For the first two months of 2022, 439 residential transactions worth a total of more than $180.3 million were reported. Compared to the same span in 2021, transactions dropped 14 percent and dollar volume jumped 8 percent.

Young and Bray said low inventories and the resulting lack of selection hamper sales. 

And though it’s a seller’s market, some people are reluctant to put their homes on the market for fear they won’t be able to purchase another home into which to move.

There were just 190 active residential listings at the end of February. That was a 10.8 percent drop from the same time last year and one of just four months over the past decade in which listings have dropped below 200, Bray said.

Meanwhile, home prices continue to increase. The median price of homes sold during the first two months of 2022 rose to $372,000. That’s a 26.1 percent increase over the same span in 2021.

“I just don’t see how that sustains itself,” Bray said, adding he expects price appreciation to slow later this year.

Bray attributed decreasing transactions in part to seasonal slowing that’s returned two years after the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. That means real estate activity likely will warm up along with the spring and summer weather, he said.

Many buyers are purchasing new homes with cash from the sale of their previous homes. But for those using financing, rising interest rates could play a bigger role, Bray said. Higher prices combined with higher interest rates could push some buyers — first-time buyers in particular — out of the market.

Meanwhile, property foreclosure activity has picked up in Mesa County, Young said. For the first two months of 2022, 26 foreclosure filings were reported. That’s up from just two for the same span in 2021.

Still, the three resales of foreclosed properties during the first two months of 2022 constituted less than 1 percent of overall transactions — far lower than the 10 percent threshold Young considers indicative of a healthy market.