'Pac-Man' Buyers 'Gobbling Up' Boulder County Real Estate: Agents

BOULDER COUNTY, CO — Colorado house hunters have been dubbed "Pac-Man" buyers by the Colorado Association of Realtors after "gobbling up" a record number of homes, the organization said.

Buyers have been "frantically maneuvering through the residential market maze – all while trying to beat the competition chasing the same real estate prize," the association said.

The continued strong demand and dwindling supply has pushed the inventory of active listings down more than 54 percent — to 9,804 homes statewide —compared to a year ago, according to the latest monthly housing data.

Kelly Moye, a Boulder County realtor, said homebuyers are "feeling downright wonderful about the market and are buying up every home that is listed."

"If there was ever a time to sell your house, this is it," Moye said.

Compared to last October, Boulder County has 6 percent fewer listings on the market but 23 percent more sales, Moye said. Prices have risen by 13 percent since this time last year.

"The month’s supply of inventory has dipped from what we already thought was an incredibly lean 3 months to under 1.5 months," Moye said.

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“Townhomes and condos are flying off the shelves, too. We are seeing more inventory in this sector of the market as people require more space for working from home and want to move up to single-family homes. First-time buyers anxious to hop in the game are scooping them up quickly and we now only have 2.5 months of inventory in these types of properties. Prices have increased 14 percent and keep going up."

Colorado real estate agents saw the strongest September in the past five years for new listings —12,630, and a record 13,039 for sold listings; however, the median sales price only went up around 12 percent statewide to $450,000 from a year prior, the Colorado Association of Realtors said.