It’s painfully obvious to homebuyers that real estate prices in Fort Collins have been rising aggressively for years.
So what is the median house price today and how has it changed over the last five years?
Below is a chart showing median sales prices, broken down by single-family homes and townhomes/condos, from 2019 to 2024.
In Fort Collins, the median sales price for single-family homes in 2024 is $635,000, the second highest in the county after Timnath, where the median price is over $679,000.
The average price for a condo or townhome in Fort Collins is $410,500, which is in the middle range.
While the average price for a single-family home in Fort Collins itself is $635,000, the median in the geographic area that includes Fort Collins, Laporte, Timnath, Wellington, Timnath, and rural areas in the northern part of Larimer County is lower at $620,000.
Across Larimer County, trends over the past two years show a significant slowdown from steady increases since the Great Recession. The Federal Reserve began raising interest rates in March 2022 and continued through July 2023.
There are far fewer homes for sale today than there were in the early 2000s when Chris Hardy began his career as a real estate agent, he said. Colorado archives show that there were more than 2,000 active listings during the summer months then. In July of this year, there were fewer than 600.
Colorado is a destination for people leaving colder climates or areas affected by climate change, and that’s driving demand, says Hardy, a broker and owner of Elevations Real Estate and spokesman for the Fort Collins Board of Realtors.
It’s also worth noting that an increase of, say, 10 additional $2 million homes sold in a market could easily drive up the average price, even though many more homes were sold in the $500,000 to $700,000 range, he said.
In the Fort Collins market, for example, nearly 900 homes sold for $500,000 to $700,000 in the last 12 months, compared to just 30 homes for $2 million and up. But with nine more homes selling for $2 million in the last year, this may affect the overall median price.
So are more million-dollar homes being built or are more owners moving from homes that have increased in value and become million-dollar homes?
“It’s both,” Hardy said.
What could happen next in the Fort Collins market?
If interest rates drop to 6 percent or even slightly below next year, more homebuyers will turn away from the competition and look for a home of their own, Hardy says.
Median house prices for 2024, year to date
For single-family homes
- Timnath: $679,450
- Fort Collins: $635,000
- Berthoud: $620,000
- Longmont: $620,000
- Windsor: $600,000
- Loveland: $530,000
- Johnstown: $528,000
- Wellington: $499,895
- Greeley: $445,000
For condominiums/townhouses:
- Longmont: $449,829
- Timnath: $435,372
- Berthoud: $421,000
- Loveland: $418,500
- Windsor: $416,555
- Fort Collins: $410,500
- Johnstown: $399,950
- Wellington: $372,500
- Greeley: $349,382
Source: Fort Collins Board of Realtors
