Summit County’s average single-family home price is flattening, a trend that began earlier this year after a decade of continuous growth. At the same time, the average price for multifamily homes, such as condos, duplexes and triplexes, is increasing. 

According to a September year-to-date report by Land Title Guarantee Company, single-family homes saw a 1% decrease in average price while multifamily units were up 5%. The average single-family home price in September was $2,047,849, down from $2,060,049 in September 2022, while the average for multifamily was $946,021, up from $899,464.

It’s a trend that’s held since the beginning of the year, when, for the first time in more than a decade, the average single-family home price dropped — though prices still remain historically high. It comes as the county’s housing market, which saw skyrocketing prices during the COVID-19 pandemic, begins to slightly cool. 

“It’s been on this sort of roller coaster,” said Dana Cottrell, a Summit County broker and member of the Colorado Association of Realtors. “I see this year as sort of a reset.”

Yet housing affordable to first-time homebuyers remains limited as multifamily units, historically more moderately priced, become more expensive. In 2018, the average price for a unit was $473,862, a figure that doubled in 2023, according to Land Title data. 

Cottrell said that even though single-family home prices have flattened, $2 million is still “such a high price,” that it may be pushing more buyers to look at condos and other multifamily housing. That, in turn, could be driving up the average costs of those homes as a wealthier buyer pool increases demand for higher-end products. 

“When you start going higher and higher in price, you start having fewer buyers,” Cottrell said. “The buyers from that other price range will start looking in a price range they could afford.”

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Fall tends to be the time of year when most multifamily units sell, said Dishon Lutz, an associate broker for Real Estate of the Summit and president of the Summit Association of Realtors. ​​

The jump in sale price “could be based on just what kind of properties are closing because such a small amount can have an impact on our data overall,” he added. 

It comes as the supply of multifamily housing continues to far outpace that of single-family homes. 

Between September 2022 and 2023, there were 310 single-family homes listed on the market compared to 571 multifamily units, according to Land Title data.

While transactions for single-family homes always tend to be fewer than those for multifamily, single-family sales have slowed this year. Cottrell said the main reason is likely interest rates, which are currently at a 20-year-high.

It’s created what market experts call “golden handcuffs” for homeowners who may want to sell their home, possibly to downsize, but feel unable to. Since interest rates directly affect payments on mortgages, homeowners who are locked into a fixed mortgage are likely to keep their homes and benefit from lower mortgage payments rather than see a pay increase with a new mortgage. 

Still, nearly half of the county’s home sales are in cash, meaning these buyers don’t have a mortgage and are unaffected by interest rates. According to Land Title data for September, 45% of real estate deals closed with cash. 

For some buyers, they’re beginning to see more wiggle room after years of a market that strongly favored sellers. 

“The forces that create a strong seller’s market are super low-interest rates and consumer confidence,” Lutz said. 

With the historically high rates and continued economic uncertainties, Lutz said sellers have “more options and maybe more negotiating power.”

Cottrell said during the pandemic when interest rates were low and home values skyrocketed, homeowners were selling at a much faster pace. But so far this year, the average time for a home on the market has increased. 

“Now, I’m seeing sellers making concessions,” she said.