Q3 Colorado Springs/El Paso County Market Report

The Air Force decided that U.S. Space Command’s permanent headquarters will remain in Colorado Springs, instead of moving to Huntsville, AL.

A developer’s plans to build nearly 500 additional homes and more business space in an existing undeveloped subdivision near Peterson Space Force Base on Colorado Springs’ east side earned unanimous approval on Tuesday from the City Council.The council approved five proposals from property owner Pikes Peak Investments to add a 21.86-acre parcel to the existing 240 acres of the undeveloped Reagan Ranch subdivision within Banning Lewis Ranch. The proposed amendments also included new land designations that authorize developers to build more single-family, multi-family and commercial space in the subdivision.

The City of Colorado Springs earned a spot in the most recent U.S. News & World Report’s2023-2024 Best Places to Live rankings. Colorado Springs ranked ninth in the 2023 rankings. This marks the sixth consecutive year Colorado Springs ranked inside the top 10 of the U.S. News Best Places to Live listing. Olympic City USA was one of only two Colorado cities to place in the top 10, as well as ranking second in the country in the “Most Desirable” category.

From the third quarter of 2022 through the first quarter of 2023, self-storage and net lease industrial properties held their value the best, while all other commercial asset types experienced significant cap rate expansion with property values dropping 10 – 15%. Office property cap rates expanded the most, increasing on average 125 bps. Cap rate expansion resulted mostly from high mortgage rates which created smaller loans, bringing real estate prices down on acquisitions. It is predicted that cap rates will continue to expand through the third quarter of 2023 when interest rates peak, and then plateau during the last quarter according to CBRE. (Source: By Terry Painter/Mortgage Banker, Author of “The Encyclopedia of Commercial Real Estate Advice”, Wiley Publishers. Member of the “Forbes Real Estate Council”

Multifamily – This is the most sought-after commercial property asset class. Surprisingly, investors only purchased $6.2 billion nationally for apartment building properties in January of 2023, according to Real Capital Analytics. Compare that to the more than $20 billion purchased in January of 2022. Since the third quarter of 2022, this trend from investors has been making it a buyer’s market and expanded cap rates. CBRE states that cap rate expansion started slowing considerably in March of 2023, and should continue at a slower increase through the third quarter of 2023 by about 25 bps.