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Some of the Best Pumpkin Patches And Fall Festivals in Colorado

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Fall is in the air, and everyone is starting to plan fun things to do in Colorado to enjoy this beautiful season!

From caramel apples to hay rides, from pumpkin patches to corn mazes, there are numerous farms and ranches offering a delightful experience for the whole family. We’ve put together a list of some of our favorite fall festivals from Colorado Springs to Denver.

Every pumpkin patch or fall festival has something unique about it, so choose the one that best fits your family’s interest (and pocketbook!). Here’s to cider, pony rides, and hay bales!

Without further ado, in no particular order:

Monument

1. Colorado Pumpkin Patch

The Colorado Kid Ranch has been hosting their fall festival for 14 years and running! Located in Monument just 20 minutes north of Colorado Springs, their farm is full of fall-themed activities kids will love! (And don’t forget to check out their annual Watermelon Festival held every August!) More Info

Open: Every Day (Except Mondays) Starting September 17 Through October 30

Tickets: Start at $14 Per Person (they offer Military, First Responder, and Senior Discounts!) / Children 3 and Under are FREE 

What Makes it Unique:

  • Jumping Pillows

    1. Pony Rides

    2. Face Painting

    3. Giant Outdoor Games (Jenga, Checkers, and Tic Tac Toe)

    4. 80 ft. Slides

    5. Tractor Rides

    6. Pumpkins for $3.00+

    7. Concessions

    8. Laser Tag

Colorado Springs

2. Miners’ Pumpkin Patch 

The Western Museum of Mining and Industry hosts their annual “Miners’ Pumpkin Patch” every Saturday throughout the month of October. The best part is that every ticket includes a free pumpkin to take home! More Info

Open: Saturdays Only in October

Tickets: Start at $10 in Advance / $12 at the Gate

What Makes it Unique:

  • Cornhole

    1. Apple Cider

    2. Food Trucks

    3. Pumpkin Smash and Catepult

    4. Kids Sack Races

    5. Spooky Stories

    6. Hay Mountain Slide

 3. Longneck Pumpkin Farm

This beautiful family-owned farm offers so much to enjoy! From adventure-filled hay rides and bench swings to a relaxing cottonwood grove, there is something every family member will love. Check out the new book written by Mrs. Longnecker herself, The Lopsided Pumpkin, which will be available for purchase. More Info

Open: Every Friday, Saturday, and Sunday Starting September 24 through October 31

Tickets: $15 Per Person in September and $17 Per Person in October / Children Under 24 Months are FREE

What Makes it Unique:

  • Pumpkins for $7+

    1. Fall-Themed Photo Ops

    2. Hay Rides

    3. Farmer’s Market

    4. Hay Bale Slide

    5. Storytelling

    6. Reserved Birthday Party Table for $50

    7. Permission to Have a Professional Photography Session for $50

Elizabeth

4. The Patch in Elizabeth

With more than 20 activities, The Patch in Elizabeth will create new fall memories for you and your family! Check out the petting zoo, bucking bronco train, or apple cannon. And don’t forget to head to the concessions for a treat! More Info

Open: Every Thursday through Sunday Starting September 17 through October 30

Tickets: $22 / Children 2 and Under are FREE

Discounts Available: Military ($20) and Grandparents ($20)

What Makes it Unique:

  • Homemade Apple Cider Donuts

    1. Low Ropes Course

    2. 4-Acre Tall Corn Maze

    3. Tetherball

    4. Giant Bubbler

    5. Photo Props

    6. Apple Cannon (Extra Charge of $5)

    7. Pumpkins for $1+ (average is $12)

Bennett

5. Mile High Farms

Located just east of Denver, this beautiful farm has been entertaining families during the fall season since 2010. Head through the make-believe town with lots of activities to try including two different corn mazes. More Info

Open: Every Saturday and Sunday During October

Tickets: Kids $12 (ages 5-12) / Adults $17 (ages 17-59) / Children 4 and under are FREE

Discounts Available: Military and Seniors (ages 60+) $12

  • 2 Corn Mazes Spanning 11 Acres

    1. Barrel Cart Rides

    2. Corn Pits

    3. Playground

    4. Entertainment

    5. Pumpkins for $0.85 per pound

Franktown

6. Lone Creek Farms

Not only does this farm have the typical fall festival activities, but it also has live entertainment! Watch a pig race, a pumpkin and candy cannon, and a firetruck pumpkin drop. More Info

Open: Every Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday Starting September 22 through October 30

Tickets: $25.95 per person / Children 3 and under are FREE / Thursdays are only $21.95!

Discounts Available: Military and Seniors (ages 63+) $22.95

What Makes it Unique:

  • Zip Lines

    1. Giant Dragon Inflatable Obstacle Course

    2. Pedal Carts

    3. Giant Pumpkin Jump Pads

    4. Cow Barrel Train Rides

    5. Duck Derby Races

    6. Tire Swing

    7. Pan for Gold

    8. Live Show Entertainment

Lafayette

7. Cottonwood Farm

If you’re on a budget, then this pumpkin patch is for you! The fall market, where you can purchase pumpkins, squash, and decorative items, can be accessed every day for free, and admission is only $5 for the festival. More Info

Open: Daily Starting September 24 through October 30

Tickets: $5 Per Person / Children 5 and under and Adults 65+ are FREE

What Makes it Unique:

  • Locally Harvested Honey for Purchase

    1. Pumpkin Patch

    2. Straw Bale Maze

    3. Petting Zoo

    4. Fall Decor for Purchase

    5. Wagon Rides

    6. Plus, they sell Christmas trees in the winter!

Longmont

8. Rocky Mountain Pumpkin Patch

Come during the weekdays to enjoy their “mellow” pumpkin patch with fewer crowds. Or, come on the weekend for their fun-filled festival activities! Since each activity has its own ticket price, you only pay for what you enjoy. More Info

Open: Saturday and Sunday ONLY in September | Daily through October 30 (Enjoy the Carnival Activities on Saturdays and Sundays ONLY)

Tickets: Admission and Parking are FREE! Purchase $1.00 Tickets for Activities (Each Ranging from 1 to 10 Tickets)

What Makes it Unique:

  • Certified Organic Farm Stand

    1. “Instagram-Worthy” Photo Displays

    2. Balloon Typhoon

    3. Fire Truck Slide

    4. Obstacle Course

    5. Pumpkin Painting

    6. Dragon Roller Coaster

    7. Animal Train Ride

9. Anderson Farm

Have fun on the farm with Fall Festival weekdays or weekends at Anderson Farm! This farm is not only a pumpkin patch. Also included are pedal karts, farm animals, jump pads, a barrel train, and more! Its largest feature is a 25-acre corn maze. More Info

Open: Daily Starting September 20-October 30, 2023

Tickets: Start at $27 Per Person / Children 3 and under are FREE

What Makes it Unique:

  • Pumpkin Cannon

    1. Wagon Rides in Pumpkin Patch

    2. Large Corn Maze

    3. Petting Zoo

    4. Barnyard 500 Pedal Karts

    5. Terror in the Corn

    6. Zombie Paintball Hunt

Thornton

10. Maize in the City

Come to Maize in the City for the largest corn maze that will take you 40 minutes to complete! Download their smartphone trivia game to help you with clues to get you through to the end. The maze changes every year, so make it a family tradition! More Info

Open: Weekends through Mid-October, then Daily until October 30

Tickets: Adults $14 / Children $10 / Children 4 and Under are FREE

What Makes it Unique:

  • 20 Acre “Crazed” Corn Field Maze (takes approximately 40 minutes!)

    1. Mini Maze for young children ($5 for tickets)

    2. Pumpkin Field with Carving Kits for Purchase

    3. Sand Art

    4. 5-Minute Escape Rooms

    5. Face Painting

 Fall is a beautiful season in Colorado, so make the most of it by attending one (or more!) of these fun fall festivals and pumpkin patches.

Happy Fall, everyone!

Learn more at rockymountainfoodtours.com

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Rent Now, Buy Never? The Cities Where Paying Cheap Rent Makes More Sense Than Buying a Home

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For many first-time homebuyers, making the gigantic leap from paying a landlord every month to making a mortgage payment is the difference between shelling out for just another bill—and making a true investment in their future. It can be a life-changer.

But making that leap has gotten harder as home prices and mortgage rates have skyrocketed. The Realtor.com® annual Rent vs. Buy analysis shows just how difficult it’s become for many first-time homebuyers across the country. That’s why we dug into the numbers to find the places where renters can save a few bucks (and we do mean a few) by buying, and where it’s still cheaper to remain a renter.

Spoiler alert: There aren’t many places left where buyers will have lower monthly mortgage payments than what they would have paid renting. It was cheaper to buy rather than rent in just three of the 50 largest metropolitan areas. In all the rest, residents could save more by renting. So we calculated how much more, and what places offer renters the best deals versus buying.

Higher mortgage rates, above 7%, pushed up the monthly bills of homeowners to more than $2,860 in August, including estimated property taxes and insurance costs. Meanwhile, the median monthly rent is about $1,750 in the 50 largest metropolitan areas.

So renters looking at the prospect of purchasing are facing monthly bills totaling $1,100 more—and that’s after saving tens of thousands of dollars for a down payment and closing costs.

In addition to the effect of the high home purchase cost, rents have come down in the past year, widening the gap between buying and renting, notes Realtor.com economist Jiayi Xu.

“In August 2023, the median asking rent for two-bedroom units dropped -0.7%, marking the fourth consecutive month of annual declines,” Xu wrote in her detailed report on renting versus buying.

Buying a home has always been difficult in the nation's priciest housing markets, particularly areas in the West that have experienced the biggest price growth. But as rental prices have simultaneously dropped in many of these markets, the scales may tilt toward renters putting off homeownership longer.

To calculate whether it's cheaper to rent or buy, we used the August 2023 median rental prices for studio, one-bed, and two-bed homes, weighted by the number of listings, in each metropolitan housing market, and compared that with the monthly buying costs for a median-priced home—assuming a 7% down payment, with a mortgage rate of 7.07%, and including all fees and taxes. Only the 50 largest metropolitan areas were included in the analysis.

For those interested in digging into these numbers further, the Realtor.com "rent or buy" calculator can provide even more individualized analyses.

Here are the top 10 metros where renters will save the most money, comparing median rents with median monthly home purchase costs.

 
 

1. Austin, TX

Median monthly home purchase cost: $3,946
Median monthly rent cost: $1,670
Median monthly home purchase premium: $2,276 (136%)

Finding the Texas capital at the top of our list is no big surprise. In the metro whose motto is "Keep Austin Weird," the housing market has lived up to this axiom, with the monthly cost of purchasing a home rising by 9.2% from this time last year, but with rents dropping a whopping 8%.

This all comes in the wake of Austin's housing market explosion over the past few years, with soaring new demand pushing home prices up at a record pace.

The Austin home market has cooled, to be sure, with prices now about 2% below where they were in August 2022. But those modest price declines are nothing compared with the impact of higher mortgage rates on the average monthly payment.

2. San Francisco, CA

Median monthly home purchase cost: $5,859
Median monthly rent cost: $2,906
Median monthly home purchase premium: $2,953 (102%)

San Francisco is no stranger to a high cost of living. Home prices here have been at or near the top of the scale for a long time. But with mortgage rates at 20-year highs, the monthly cost to purchase a median-priced home here has climbed to almost $5,900.

Whereas the median rent cost is less than half of that.

"Housing affordability is a huge social and economic issue in San Francisco and the Bay Area," says Patrick Carlisle, the chief market analyst for the San Francisco Bay Area for Compass. "And there are certainly perfectly legitimate personal and economic reasons for renting."

But Carlisle is quick to warn that the difference in monthly cost is just one piece of the pie: "The decision whether to rent versus buy is much more complicated than [just] comparing median rents and home payments at a certain point in time."

The effect of overall inflation, along with home value appreciation, means that homeowners can expect the investment in their home will pay dividends for years to come.

"Over the longer term, it's called the 'forced savings effect,'" Carlisle says. "This can be a huge factor in building personal wealth. Rent is always money gone forever: It never builds into a financial asset of any kind."

3. Columbus, OH

Median monthly home purchase cost: $2,458
Median monthly rent cost: $1,222
Median monthly home purchase premium: $1,236 (101%)

Columbus is one of the few areas on our list where rents have gone up over the past year. In most of these metros, home prices have climbed and rents have dipped. But here's the twist: In Ohio's capital city, both are rising.

The cost of living in Columbus is lower than the national average—as has historically been the case for much of the Midwest—but home prices are climbing fast, compared with the rest of the country. In August, the median list price per square foot in Columbus was up almost 8% compared with the same time last year.

Columbus stands out on the list, Xu explains in her report, because it's still affordable relative to the rest of the country.

"The monthly buy-cost was well below the top-50 average," Xu writes.

4. Sacramento, CA

Median monthly home purchase cost: $3,779
Median monthly rent cost: $1,898
Median monthly home purchase premium: $1,881 (99%)

California's capital spotlights the West Coast's overall affordability challenges, where even above-average incomes aren't enough to make up for the high cost of housing.

And when it comes to home prices, Sacramento in particular has seen a significant price pump over the past year, with a 9% appreciation, putting the median home at $672,000.

Most of the rise in home values, says Steve Ostrom, a real estate agent at Coldwell Banker Realty in the Sacramento suburb of Roseville, is due to the influx of residents fleeing an even more expensive nearby metro that's also on our list: "It's the transplants coming in from the Bay Area."

Since the beginning of the pandemic, Ostrom says, people who could now work remotely, or even hybrid workers who might commute a couple of days each week, have poured into Sacramento.

"Our prices just shot up," he says.

And even though the median monthly rent price is almost half of the median monthly home purchase cost, "the rental market is tough here, too," he continues. "There's just a lot of demand all around."

5. Los Angeles, CA

Median monthly home purchase cost: $5,672
Median monthly rent cost: $2,892
Median monthly home purchase premium: $2,780 (96%)

The median home price in the Golden State's biggest metro is now a whopping $1.16 million, and the price per square foot is up 8.8% compared with the same time last year.

The L.A. area, of course, has tons to offer, from the year-round glory of its Mediterranean climate to its world-famous beaches, to the glamour of Hollywood. It's no wonder this metro has grown to almost 13 million people.

But the lack of homes to accommodate all those residents keeps prices on the rise, and coupled with elevated mortgage rates, the monthly cost to purchase a median-priced home has gone up more than $1,000 in the past year. That translates into a 23% increase in the cost of owning a home.

6. San Jose, CA

Median monthly home purchase cost: $6,581
Median monthly rent cost: $3,367
Median monthly home purchase premium: $3,214 (96%)

The San Jose metro differs from other parts of the country, for sure, but it even stands out in California.

San Jose, in the heart of Silicon Valley, is where home shoppers will find some of the highest home prices in the country—and the most expensive monthly payment of any place on our rent versus buy comparison.

To put the San Jose home prices in context, with a monthly purchase cost of almost $6,600 for a median-priced home here, a 20% down payment would be almost $300,000. To keep this home "affordable," using the rule of spending no more than 30% of income on housing, a buyer would still need an income of around $300,000 or more.

7. Portland, OR

Median monthly home purchase cost: $3,314
Median monthly rent cost: $1,709
Median monthly home purchase premium: $1,605 (94%)

This one-of-a-kind city is so amusingly funky, it even spawned an absurdist cable show about its quirks and kinks. Its lush landscapes, ample outdoor culture, and eco-friendly ethos have drawn like-minded people to "The City of Roses" for decades.

But it's also quite expensive, with a median home price of $638,000, about 40% higher than the national median. While prices in Portland grew quickly during the pandemic, they've remained relatively stable recently, with prices up only about 1% compared with one year ago.

Nonetheless, the monthly cost to buy here is about 15% above the national average, but renting there is about 2.5% less than the U.S. average rent price.

8. Boston, MA

Median monthly home purchase cost: $5,526
Median monthly rent cost: $2,851
Median monthly home purchase premium: $2,675 (94%)

Boston is the only East Coast city to make our list of where renters save the most money compared with buying.

Renting in Beantown is about 63% more expensive than the national average. But even at that high price, renters will still save almost $2,700, compared with the monthly cost to buy a median-priced Boston-area home, now at around $844,000.The monthly home purchase cost is up almost 30%, the biggest monthly purchase cost increase of any place on our list.

9. Seattle, WA

Median monthly home purchase cost: $4,156
Median monthly rent cost: $2,168
Median monthly home purchase premium: $1,988 (92%)

Seattle, another major U.S. tech hub, has been drawing high-skilled workers over the past several decades and driving up wages to roughly 40% above the national average.

Those higher-than-average wages have helped push home prices up in this lush, sprawling metro area, where the median home price is now $815,000 and rising. The metro is seeing about a 5% appreciation in price per square foot over the past year.

Meanwhile, rents have come down almost 4% over the past year.

10. Phoenix, AZ

Median monthly home purchase cost: $3,015
Median monthly rent cost: $1,595
Median monthly home purchase premium: $1,420 (89%)

The Phoenix metro area shows significant savings for renters, following what was a feverish period of home value appreciation. Between the middle of 2019 and the price peak in the middle of 2022, home prices increased by more than 60%. Out of the 50 largest metros, only Tampa, FL, and Austin, TX, had faster price growth during that period.

Now, even as prices have declined in Phoenix over the past year, down about 6% from the price peak last summer, the monthly cost to buy there is still up by 25%, because of higher mortgage rates.

At the same time, the median monthly rent price is down about 4.5%, offering renters in the Valley of the Sun a savings of $1,400 on the median rental each month compared with the median monthly home purchase cost.

 
 

While renters will save the most money in much of the country, there are three remaining markets where buying a home will save someone money each month, compared with comparable rent prices. These places tend to be more affordable areas, but even here the savings have shrunk as they are squeezed by elevated mortgage rates.

1. Memphis, TN

Median monthly home purchase cost: $1,285
Median monthly rent cost: $1,328
Median monthly home purchase savings: $43 (-3%)

2. Pittsburgh, PA

Median monthly home purchase cost: $1,490
Median monthly rent cost: $1,529
Median monthly home purchase savings: $39 (-3%)

3. Birmingham, AL

Median monthly home purchase cost: $1,263
Median monthly rent cost: $1,269
Median monthly home purchase savings: $6 (-1%)

Learn more at realtor.com

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Colorado Springs City Council approves annexation aiming to bring diverse housing options

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The city of Colorado Springs will grow by about 150 acres at its southern border, and developers plan to turn the vacant land into neighborhoods with hundreds of new homes alongside commercial, industrial and open space.

The council voted unanimously Tuesday to give final approval of the annexation request for the master planned community known as the Villages at Waterview North, a 145-acre site located northeast of the Powers Boulevard and Bradley Road intersection.

The item was included on the regular meeting's consent agenda and passed with no discussion, indicating a lack of controversy. Items on the consent agenda are considered as a whole and passed by the council with one vote.

 

A site map shows the roughly 145-acre area that will be annexed into Colorado Springs city limits after the City Council on Tuesday, Sept. 26, 2023, gave final approval of the annexation request. Developers want to build a new community on about 116.5 acres of the site with a mix of residential, commercial and industrial uses. (Courtesy of the city of Colorado Springs)

 

Developers plan to build about 800 new multi-family and single-family residential units in the community. The location is ripe for building "an integrated patchwork of residential neighborhoods" offering a diverse mix of housing options, as it is near the Colorado Springs Airport, military installations and other employment centers, developers have said.

The residential areas and a mix of other industrial, commercial and public uses is planned for about 116 acres of the project site. A concept plan shows housing will be built on 57.5 acres, with 44 acres designated for commercial and industrial uses. The project plans for about 3.5 acres of park space and just over 4 acres of open space.

Learn more at gazette.com

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9 Cheap Backyard Ideas That Don’t Use Grass

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You’ve heard the saying: The grass is always greener on the other side.

That might be true, but that greener grass might not be the easiest to care for! The fact is that lawn maintenance takes time, energy, and expenses that you might not be all that interested in investing. Or perhaps you’ve budgeted and put effort into having a beautiful lawn, but your rocky soil and harsh climate have made your attempts unsuccessful.

No matter your reasons for wanting to be grass-free, you don’t have to succumb to the United States way of maintaining your yard. For centuries, folks all over the globe have focused their efforts on alternative plantings, helpful vegetation, and creative hardscapes instead of simply planting classic turf. If you’re ready to live a lower-maintenance, grass-free life, here are nine cheap yard ideas that don’t include grass.

Make a rock garden

If you loved your pet rock as a child, have a grown-up version by curating an easy-maintenance rock garden. According to Andrew Connolly, owner of Little Flower Cottage, these stone-laden areas are perfect for yards with rocky terrain and poor-quality soil. If you’d like to add plants, gather stones in various shapes and sizes and pepper low-maintenance plants like sedums and alpines in between.

“Rock gardens are visually striking, require minimal watering, and can thrive in harsh conditions,” Connolly adds. This style of hardscape garden can have a beautiful impact on your yard and add visual interest with its various rock formations — with or without plants.

Opt for a synthetic lawn

Artificial turf is ideal for those who crave the look of grass without the hefty maintenance schedule. Fake grass has come a long way and can often pass as natural vegetation. “Transitioning to an artificial grass lawn significantly reduces the time and effort required to maintain the lawn and is also eco-friendly, eliminating the need for watering, fertilizers, and pesticides,” says Celine Ferreira, a marketing specialist with AGL Grass. Beyond lawns, synthetic grass is also an option for balconies and terraces for a softer feel.

Sow wildflowers

Wildflowers are just that — wild — so they’re easy to maintain, self-seed, and bring happiness to anyone looking at them. Yards bursting with native flowers also attract pollinators and provide habitats for smaller creatures. This naturally earth-friendly grass substitute is also easy to plant — especially if you start in the fall.

Heather Evans, also known as The Avant Gardener, is currently trading her grass for a colorful burst of wild blooms. “I’m solarizing big sections of my yard to kill the grass and seed with wildflowers in later fall,” she says. After extinguishing the grass, sow your wildflower seeds and lightly mulch. The seeds will germinate and grow into a colorful, healthy landscape in the spring.

Use ground cover plants

Some plants naturally grow low to the ground, creating an ideal way to allow low-maintenance greenery to flourish. “Ground cover plants constitute a botanical tapestry that spans the ground, presenting an assortment of dimensions, configurations, and hues,” says Sarah Gill, a landscaper and garden expert at Hypedome.

Ideal plants for covering include creeping jenny, periwinkle, thyme, clover, and vinca minor. Allowing vegetation to spread does require patience, but one benefit is that it helps to curtail weeds and stabilize soil in your yard.

Place pavers and stones

Some pavers wouldn’t be considered cheap, but Brock Ingham, owner of Bigger Garden, knows how to score them inexpensively. “I often see local listings for ‘free with removal’ pavers and stones,” he reveals. “This can be a goldmine of free landscaping material at your disposal.”

A truck and a willing spirit can add up to a secret score if you search Craigslist and Facebook Marketplace. One plus is that pavers are durable. Additionally, you can create pathways with stones in between to maximize access to other parts of your yard.

Try xeriscaping

Zahid Adnan of The Plant Bible suggests pairing drought-tolerant plants with hardscape elements, like gravel and rocks. Like a rock garden, xeriscapes focus more on the overall pairing look rather than striking rock formations. “These gardens are ideal for arid regions with limited water resources,” Andan says. Although there are limited color options and the initial setup can be pricey, the cost over time is less due to how low-maintenance and water-efficient xeriscaping is.

Create a succulent garden

Another great pairing with hardscapes, such as pavers and stones, is a garden filled with succulents. “A low-maintenance idea to provide more curb appeal is to build a rock border just off the curb and then plant drought-tolerant and sculptural statement plants like agaves and yucca,” advises Amy Hovis, the owner of Eden Garden Design. Cacti and succulents thrive in sunny areas, so consider ornamental styles instead of grass.

Consider mulch

Although you may only want a portion of your yard full of mulch, adding pine bark or needles to certain areas is a natural alternative to grass. Vicky Popat, co-founder of PlantOGram.com, says mulch is best for placing around tree bases, planting beds, and stabilizing play areas. Creating these natural boundaries is also aesthetically pleasing. “Mulch retains soil moisture, suppresses weeds, can improve soil health, and offers a tidy appearance,” she adds. Plus, as the covering decays, it releases healthy nutrients to the soil underneath.

Plant an edible garden

With all of the mowing, trimming, fertilizing, and aerating, having grass is a hefty time investment. Although planting a vegetable or herb garden is also a fair amount of work, the payoff is enormous when considering the harvest outside your door.

“Cultivating an herb garden with varieties like basil, rosemary, and mint offers not just a practical culinary addition, but also enhances your garden with delightful fragrances,” says master gardener Robert Silver. Veggies might not smell as good as herbs, but sowing rows of squash and tomatoes should keep you — and some of your neighbors — fed all summer.

Learn more at apartmenttherapy.com

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The Return of Normal Seasonality for Home Price Appreciation

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If you’re thinking of making a move, one of the biggest questions you have right now is probably: what’s happening with home prices?

Despite what you may be hearing in the news, nationally, home prices aren’t falling. It’s just that price growth is beginning to normalize. Here’s the context you need to really understand that trend.

In the housing market, there are predictable ebbs and flows that happen each year. It’s called seasonality. Spring is the peak homebuying season when the market is most active. That activity is typically still strong in the summer but begins to wane as the cooler months approach. Home prices follow along with seasonality because prices appreciate most when something is in high demand.

That’s why there’s a reliable long-term home price trend. The graph below uses data from Case-Shiller to show typical monthly home price movement from 1973 through 2022 (not adjusted, so you can see the seasonality):

As the data shows, at the beginning of the year, home prices grow, but not as much as they do in the spring and summer markets. That’s because the market is less active in January and February since fewer people move in the cooler months. As the market transitions into the peak homebuying season in the spring, activity ramps up, and home prices go up a lot more in response. Then, as fall and winter approach, activity eases again. Price growth slows, but still typically appreciates.

After several unusual ‘unicorn’ years, today’s higher mortgage rates helped usher in the first signs of the return of seasonality. As Selma Hepp, Chief Economist at CoreLogic, explains:

“High mortgage rates have slowed additional price surges, with monthly increases returning to regular seasonal averages. In other words, home prices are still growing but are in line with historic seasonal expectations.”

Why This Is So Important to Understand

In the coming months, you’re going to see the media talk more about home prices. In their coverage, you’ll likely see industry terms like these:

  • Appreciation: when prices increase.

  • Deceleration of appreciation: when prices continue to appreciate, but at a slower or more moderate pace.

  • Depreciation: when prices decrease.

Don’t let the terminology confuse you or let any misleading headlines cause any unnecessary fear. The rapid pace of home price growth the market saw in recent years was unsustainable. It had to slow down at some point and that’s what we’re starting to see – deceleration of appreciation, not depreciation.

Remember, it’s normal to see home price growth slow down as the year goes on. And that definitely doesn’t mean home prices are falling. They’re just rising at a more moderate pace.

Bottom Line

While the headlines are generating fear and confusion on what’s happening with home prices, the truth is simple. Home price appreciation is returning to normal seasonality. If you have questions about what’s happening with prices in your local area, connect with a real estate professional.

Learn more at keepingcurrentmatters.com

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