This week I’m discussing a new-ownership model for second homes called Pacaso. Also, as expected, local inventory is improving giving buyers a bit more latitude.
Aggregate Boulder County Market
4/25 – 5/02, 2021
* We are overlooking 2020 shutdown numbers until the middle of May. 2019 and 2018 are examples of what was previously normal in our market. The 2020 numbers will become relevant again in the middle of May.
How is The Local Market as an Aggregate?
Last week, total under-contracts were at 1433, still in the range of normal vis a vis 2019 (1492) and 2018 (1493).
From an inventory perspective, last week we had 1.3 months supply of inventory; in 2019, we had 1.88 month s supply of inventory and in 2018 we had 1.44 months supply of inventory. This is a 29% lesser months supply inventory than 2019, and 8% lesser months supply of inventory than in 2018.
Months Inventory
How Is The Local Market
By Price
Band?
From a price band perspective, most of the price bands were a little less effervescent last week, with the sell-through rates showing more incoming inventory than out-going under-contracts.
* We are overlooking 2020 shutdown numbers until the middle of May. 2019 and 2018 are examples of what was previously normal in our market. The 2020 numbers will become relevant again in the middle of May.
National Real Estate Trends
New Forms of (Second) Home Ownership
There is a new concept in property ownership:
Since many people dream of owning a second home but either are unable to afford it or don’t want to own something that sits empty most of the time, a new concept has been created in property ownership.
A company purchases single-family homes in vacation destinations. They then sell 1/8 to 1/2 shares in the home. An LLC is created for each home. Owners enjoy 100% ownership, and the company that organized the sale takes care of furnishings, repairs, utilities, and property management.
One such company is Pacaso, started by Zillow founder Spencer Rascoe and tech entrepreneur, Austin Allison. In 5 months, they raised $90mm in funding for this idea.
Pacaso appears to take a 12% purchase fee. Presumably, the fractional portions of homes are sold at a higher price per square foot than the entire home would carry. It will be interesting to see if or how these sales impact market pricing.
There are evidently some neighbors unhappy about single-family homes being used by many rotating families; they are exploring if they can object legally to these shared properties.
Air bnb hotels are also in the process of being created, in which individuals own the units within the hotel. These could potentially serve as second homes as well.
Given that we’re in a second home market, we will report back on all of this as we learn more.
Food Security Project Update
This week we had a team of volunteers assist Farmer Katie in spreading compost donated by The Buckner Family Ranch in Longmont.
The ground is still very wet from our recent precipitation so most of the plants are still growing in the greenhouse. We hope to get more plants in the ground next week!
We’ll keep you updated on upcoming volunteer opportunities! In the meantime, check out all the wonderful press our Food Security Project has been receiving!
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compiled from sources deemed reliable but is subject to errors, omissions, changes in price,
condition, sale, or withdrawal without notice. No statement is made as to accuracy of any
description. All measurements and square footages are approximate. This is not intended to
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