Hi Doug :o)

The answer to your question is much more complex than the it would seem to imply. Colorado Springs and Pikes Peak Region is a very diverse real estate market with housing dating from the late 1800's to new builds in neighborhoods and subdivisions spread out over about 194 Square Miles...and that just the properties that fall within the city limits.

We have seen moderate to high price corrections in some areas of anywhere from 15% up to near 30%, while other areas have seen more modest corrections and some areas have remained relatively steady or even seen very modest appreciations in the area of 1%.

The media often confuse the general public by speaking about the "national real estate market" which doesn't really exist. All real estate is local and home sales and appreciation can vary greatly even from neighborhood to neighborhood...especially in our market.

While existing home sales fell nationally about 17% in 2008, the Pikes Peak Region only saw a decline of about 14.5% in existing home sales during the same period. In fact, we are currently only seeing an 11.8% decline in existing home sales thru May 2009 year to date over may 2008 year to date.

While we have seen price corrections in many areas, Colorado Springs has remained somewhat insulated from the devastating price corrections experienced in some markets by several factors:

1. Our home values were not over priced to begin with. In a 2006 national market comparison Colorado Springs was determined to be only about 6% over value while at the same time we were seeing about 5% to 10% appreciations which usually indicate a sustainable, healthy market. In comparison, Naples Florida was determined by the same analysis to be about 105% over valued and not surprisingly they have seen their values correct downward in some cases up to almost 50% of what they were just 3 years ago.

2. Our large military community, 5 bases, keeps our market turning over as military moves have the average homeowner moving every 3 to 5 years in the Pikes Peak Region where that number is usually about 5 to 7 years nationally.

The number of foreclosures in an area is often a good indicator of where you will find the largest price corrections and this map (http://alturl.com/w5yg) shows the levels of foreclosures in the areas in and around Colorado Springs from April 1, 2008 thru December 31, 2008

All that said, we still have a healthy buyers market with over 5,000 single family properties on the market in the Pikes Peak Region with about 73% of listings coming in under $400,000, representing about 93% of all the home sales, and a market average sales price of about $220,000.

However, the available inventory, # of available listings on the market, has continued to shrink and the asking price to sold price percentage has leveled off and has even shown a modest increase in the last couple months.

I hope this information is of assistance and you can feel free co contact me if you have any further questions.

Best Regards
Brian L. A. Wess
CRS, GRI, ABR, ASR, CSR, e-PRO
Realtor®, Broker Associate
Residential & Investment Specialist
Pat Newell & Associates, Inc - Metro Brokers
Colorado Springs, CO
Direct: 719-528-6672
Web: BrianWess.com
COLORADO REAL ESTATE...DONE RIGHT!™

THE Homes For Heroes™ Realtor® for the Pikes Peak Region
http://www.HomesForHeroes.com