'People are not buying': Real estate businesses hit hard by Pueblo housing market slowdown

The real estate market in Pueblo is slowing down and this is affecting businesses across the board. The impact is not only felt by Realtors, but also mortgage lenders, title companies and home builders. According to Dave Anderson, Pueblo Association of Realtors communications chairman, 'Overall the housing slowdown has a ripple effect throughout the industry as more title companies, lenders and builders are reducing their staff. Randy Nobiensky is a self-employed contractor who works for RH Builders and is seeing the effects on Realtors and builders. People aren't buying; they are saving. Nobiensky is the vice president of Pueblo Area Home Builders Association. He said that rising interest rates, rising costs, and supply chain issues have made it difficult for builders. His year was brightened by being named builder-of-the-year by his peers. However, he stated that he is now seeing more long-time builders retire. In November, 16 new building permits in Pueblo County were issued. Anderson stated that the number of permits issued in the first 11 months is down by 202 compared to 2021. Nobiensky stated that this has caused builders to stop building new homes and sell their inventory. He explained that they had five, ten, or fifteen homes available for sale and would stop building until they have sold all of their inventory. "For our community that's 90%. It's not looking great, but it's just one cycle. Builders with lots of homes may try to sell them off soon. Nobiensky, however, isn't as affected. However, he has gone from building four to five homes per year to now having two homes under construction. To make ends meet, he switched to a commercial finish job as well as remodeling work. According to him, other builders will shift to remodeling work to make ends meet as homeowners focus on improving their homes. This means that mortgage payments can double. The sharp rise in interest rates has made it seem that the opposite is true. More real estate news: Let's talk business. Residential real estate sales continued to slide in November. New listings in Pueblo fell 25%. Anderson stated that Pueblo had 116 fewer listings in November than it did November 2021. "Pending sales were down by 43.3% in November compared to last November, almost matching the huge drop in sold listings which were just shy of 47%," Anderson said. Last November, Pueblo saw 320 homes sell in Pueblo, while this year, it only had 178. The sales revenue also dropped from $88.7million last November to $53.5million this November. He said, "I don't think anyone of us really knows for certain." It won't take as long, however, because inflation and the difficulty in getting concrete, windows, and garage doors is part of the problem. All of this is easily fixed. "COVID-19" took its toll on the availability and prices of building materials and now he says that he is trying to catch up. What is the future? Russ Lane, Mortgage Lender, stated that he believes interest rates will either remain the same or rise slightly for six months. Anderson stated, "Many people in the industry predict a difficult year ahead. Anderson said, 'Many in the industry are predicting a tough year ahead.' Nobiensky stated that we can weather any storm. One thing is certain: Pueblo isn't the only one experiencing a slowdown in real estate. Martin Schechter, Colorado Association of Realtors, stated that the slowdown can be seen in a variety of areas with numbers that are far from the market frenzy of one year ago. More real estate news: Is Pueblo becoming more of a buyer's marketplace? Residential real estate sales dropped 29% in SeptemberChieftain reporter Tracy Harmon covers business news.

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