Just took a look at the FHFA HPI quarterly report and Colorado appears to be enjoying a relatively flat appreciation rate at just -0.2% for the previous 4 quarters ranking the Centennial State #6 in the country. Considering that many states to our West are still seeing rates in the minus 7 to minus 12 percent range – it makes the Colorado market look comparatively very attractive. I’ve included the link to the report and if you jump to page 24, you’ll find a zoomable version of the map included in this post. http://www.fhfa.gov/webfiles/22558/2q2011HPI.pdf.
As for the Fort Collins/Loveland MSA – we have moved down in the rankings to number 58 out of 306 with a 4 quarter decline of just 1.39% and a 5 year decline of 3.24%. Contrast that to the Las Vegas-Paradise MSA that ranked last with a 4 quarter decline of 15.16% and a 5 year rate of minus 59.46%. As stated in my previous post, the job market here isn’t horrible and many of the economic indicators show Northern Colorado to be a pretty safe bet for long term economic stability and moderate growth.
The report is pretty interesting for statistics geeks (yes, I’m one of them). I like using it as a barometer for how we compare on the state and national levels. It seems a bit more accurate than the Case/Schiller since there are more areas indexed than just the 20 largest metros. One thing that’s gaining more and more notoriety are regions enjoying the “benefits” of increased oil and gas exploration, it’s easy to see why there’s no inventory in many parts of North Dakota.
I’m sure many of you already rely on this resource but wanted to share our info in the event you may be interested in Colorado or have clients looking to relocate here.
Chris, great information! I will have to take a closer look at this, thank you!
Hi Chris - Thanks for posting this - it's very useful information. And it confirms what we already know about the relative strength of our local market.