More than 302 avalanches recorded in Colorado since Feb. 27 — many of them are ‘just huge,’ experts say

#Colorado

Summit Daily

Summit County awoke Friday to fresh scars carved across many of the county’s mountainsides, as a series of large-scale avalanches that began Thursday continued to roar through the Rocky Mountains — with more snow on the way.

On Thursday morning, the Colorado Avalanche Information Center had already documented 302 avalanches across the state since Feb. 27 with 209 of them large enough to bury, injure or kill someone.

Weekend snowstorms were only a prelude to Thursday’s slides, however, and the CAIC had to issue extreme avalanche danger warnings for four backcountry zones for the first time since the 10-zone forecast format began. 

“The avalanches are running much larger than they have, in some cases, for maybe 50 to 100 years,” said Spencer Logan, an avalanche forecaster with the center.

Logan said the CAIC will likely need several days to record all the activity that occurred Thursday, and he expects the day’s total will register in the hundreds when it’s all said and done. 

“We’ve had a series of large storms Wednesday and Thursday that brought a lot of snow very rapidly,” Logan explained, adding that some areas received as much as 24 inches of snow in a matter of hours. “All that snowfall combined with wind has created a lot of unstable slopes.”

One was fatal. A 48-year-old skier was buried and killed in an avalanche Thursday afternoon near Jones Pass in Clear Creek County. Other avalanche activity was reported in Summit County on Friday in the Ten Mile Canyon, at Breckenridge Ski Resort, by Arapahoe Basin Ski Area and across other areas.

“It’s historic proportions for the slides that are coming down,” said Charles Pitman, spokesman for the Summit County Rescue Group. “They’re just huge. You start covering highways feet deep in snow and then have avalanches going across the interstate, that’s something that just doesn’t happen.”

In his 16 years in Summit County, Pitman has never witnessed anything like the avalanches he saw this week, including a massive slide that carved a new gouge from the ridgeline between Peak 1 and Mount Victoria outside Frisco almost to the base of the mountain.

A SCAR IS BORN

Based on archive photos from the Frisco Historic Park & Museum, the path of Thursday’s avalanche is not far from the one in 1912 that erased Masontown, an all-but-deserted mining town on the side of Mount Royal.

Pitman estimated the recent avalanche must have been a couple hundred feet wide as it ripped down the mountainside and snaked its way through a gully.

Trees caught in its path were wiped out, and the slide petered out toward the base of the mountain, where Pitman noticed the trees in the valley were darker on Friday than they were the day before. He hypothesized the avalanche’s wind gust must have been powerful enough to blow all the snow off the branches.

“It sort of gives you an idea that it did go down a bit farther,” Pitman said. “I don’t think (the slide) went all the way to Rainbow Lake, but it was certainly heading that direction and my guess is that it got reasonably close.”

Pitman said the avalanche outside Frisco was naturally triggered and, without any reports of missing persons, the rescue group was hesitant to send crews into the danger zone for fear they might be hurt.

It might look like a new ski run now, but Pitman said the chute is so littered with debris that it would be foolish for anyone to try to ride it with such a high risk of catching a ski and being seriously injured or killed.

“It looks like a beautiful ski run from here — just take a lift up to it, and you’re in great shape,” he said, “but in actuality, I think it has so much debris that that would not be a wise thing to ski.”

RESORT SLIDES

The slides weren’t exclusive to the backcountry, either. At Breckenridge Ski Resort, avalanche activity cropped up inbounds when one tore through an expert-rated trail off the Imperial Express SuperChair early Friday afternoon.

Spokeswoman Sara Lococo said ski patrol responded to the incident immediately and no one was hurt. On Friday afternoon, Lococo said she was unable to comment on the cause of the avalanche or whether anyone was rescued as the investigation was still underway.

Meanwhile, Arapahoe Basin Ski Area remained closed for the second straight day on Friday due to high avalanche danger. It’s probably a good thing, too, because slides were reported at nearby locations known as “The Professor” and at a chute down the road from A-Basin known as “the Widowmaker,” which covered Highway 6 leading up to the ski area. A-Basin is expected to reopen today.

MORE SNOW

While the avalanche risk was lowered from extreme on Thursday to high on Friday, more snow began falling on Friday afternoon and forecasters were calling for another 6-12 inches by this morning.

The snowfall could easily raise avalanche dangers again across the mountains, Logan said, explaining that even as the degree of danger may change slightly, it’s not going away anytime soon.

Pitman is encouraging backcountry enthusiasts to view this as an opportunity to enjoy their favorite ski resorts.

The resorts aren’t entirely risk-free, he said, but ski patrol does a “superb job” controlling avalanches inbounds and they’re much safer than backcountry adventures at this time.

“Stay inbounds and enjoy the snowpack that way,” Pitman said, adding that it’s not a bad idea for people to carry avalanche beacons with them even at the resorts, just in case something happens.

Courtesy Summit Daily

Historic avalanche cycle wreaks havoc in Colorado mountains

#Summit County #Colorado

Summit Daily

When Frisco residents went to sleep on Wednesday night the view of Mount Victoria was familiar, with densely crowded lodgepole pine trees resting branch-to-branch above the snow-packed slope.

But when they woke up Thursday morning, the view had changed considerably after a massive avalanche near the J Chute — just off of Rainbow Lake — tore through the landscape, stripping trees and leaving a gigantic white scar on the side of the peak.

“The trees that are gone were full-sized lodgepoles,” said Kathryn Grohusky, a Frisco resident who saw the damage from the avalanche from her home Thursday morning. “The avalanche debris is really deep, it came down the hill and took the trees out. The path is a ski run wide.” 

When asked if she’d ever seen anything similar in her 20-plus years of living in Frisco, the answer was clear: “Nope.”

That’s the type of week it’s been for residents and visitors making their way through the mountain corridor as substantial snowfall led to historic avalanche conditions in the area. Following major avalanches that shut down roadways in and out of Summit County on Sunday and Tuesday (both natural and controlled slides), Mother Nature again refused to cooperate on Thursday, as another series of slides shut down roadways and schools, caused power outages and delayed resort openings. 

Issues began well before first light, when an avalanche hit Vail Pass at around 1:30 a.m., dumping 6 feet of snow onto the roadway and catching a tow truck in the slide, though there were no injuries, said Tracy Trulove, a spokeswoman with the Colorado Department of Transportation.

At around 5 a.m. another avalanche between the water-treatment plant and Conoco gas-station complex near Copper Mountain ruptured a natural-gas line, closing off access to the area and delaying the resort’s opening. In addition to Copper Mountain, which didn’t open until about 11:30 a.m., Arapahoe Basin closed down for the entire day due to heightened avalanche concerns, and Breckenridge Ski Resort had a delayed opening of almost all upper-mountain lifts and terrain.

CDOT began avalanche mitigation work near Vail Pass at 7:45 a.m., creating another slide that brought 15 feet of snow onto the center line, effectively closing the pass for most of the day. Along with major road closures early in the day, avalanche mitigation work near the Eisenhower/Johnson Memorial Tunnels closed I-70 between Silverthorne and Vail into the afternoon.

For drivers who weren’t expecting major closures to I-70 — or additional closures at US 24, CO 91 and Loveland Pass — it was a frustrating experience.

“So far I’ve had Vail Pass closed, Fremont Pass closed and now Loveland Pass is closed,” said Elizabeth Eckert, an Avon local who was trying to get to Golden for the day. “I left around 7 this morning, and I should have gotten there at 9. It’s just ridiculous. Everywhere I go I hit something and have to go around.

“I’m trying to stay positive in that I wasn’t caught in an avalanche or stuck waiting for a pass to open … but it’s still super frustrating. I keep having to pull over going, ‘OK, where do I go now?’”

Perhaps the scariest moment of the day happened around 4 p.m., when another giant avalanche hit CO 91 at mile marker 21, near Copper Mountain, spreading 15-foot-deep snow across 300 feet of roadway and trapping multiple cars. While emergency crews were able to rescue all of the trapped individuals, it was still a frightening scene with at least one car completely overturned and totally buried.

Not all avalanches affected roadways, such as the large-scale slide on Mount Victoria or a much smaller slide at Mount Royal around mid-day, though road closures weren’t the only concern.

Early Thursday morning the Summit School District announced that all Summit schools were closed for the day. Colorado Mountain College made the same decision, shutting down their Breckenridge and Dillon campuses to try to keep students off the road.

Additionally, areas of Frisco, Breckenridge and Silverthorne suffered power outages due to the weather, with some outages lasting throughout the day. Michelle Aguayo, a spokeswoman with Xcel Energy, said that about 1,900 customers were affected in total.

“We anticipated some of this weather coming through so we had staffing in place,” said Aguayo. “It’s just a matter of our crews being able to make it out individually to these different outages. With some of the roads being closed, it was really difficult trying to access some of those areas.”

St. Anthony Summit Medical Center remained open and fully operational throughout the day, along with the hospital’s walk-in urgent care clinics at the base of Breckenridge and Keystone. The clinic at Copper Mountain was delayed, but opened later in the day.

While the last few days have been difficult, officials aren’t sure there’s any relief coming over the weekend.

“We have another storm coming in tomorrow, and expect good snow through early next week,” said Ethan Greene with the Colorado Avalanche Information Center (CAIC). “Certainly where the problems are and how they’re manifesting will change. But avalanche crews will continue working hard over the coming days.”

Greene went on to characterize the avalanche cycle over the last few days as somewhat unprecedented. He said that he reached out to several former employees at both the CAIC and CDOT to get their take on the last time things were this bad, but even they were at a loss.

“I think it’s safe to say that nobody alive has seen a week like this,” said Greene.  Courtesy Summit Daily.

Frisco begins Big Dig, sets groundwork for future marina improvements

#Frisco #Colorado

The “Big Dig” has arrived.

The town of Frisco officially kicked off the Big Dig with a ceremonial groundbreaking on Monday afternoon, signaling the beginning of years of planned improvements as part of the Frisco Bay Marina Master Plan.

The Big Dig is a substantial excavation of up to 85,000 cubic yards of dirt from the reservoir’s lakebed, a move that’s expected to drastically improve navigation at the marina and lengthen the boating season. But the project will also lay the groundwork (literally) for a number of other improvements scheduled over the next several years. 

"What we’re going to see is this wonderful asset developing further towards its full potential, and providing access for more of us,” said Chris Guarino, a Frisco resident who’s leading the project. “We want to give that experience to more kids on the beach, more people renting boats and more people having picnics. …It’s modernizing, it’s expanding and it’s exciting.”

The Big Dig will lower areas of the lakebed by as much as 13 feet, bringing the most desirable parts of the Dillon Reservoir to an elevation below the reservoir’s “glory hole” — a spillover where the water flows once the lake fills up and begins to drain — allowing water levels to remain steadier during fluctuation periods, presumably improving navigation for boaters throughout the season, and lessening the workload for the marina’s staff. 

“The deepening of the bay is going to be huge,” said Tom Hogeman, manager at the marina. “It’ll give us a buffer in fluctuating water levels. Right now if the lake drops only 5 or 6 feet, it’s still at 97 percent full, but we have to move to our low water plan. Now if that happens, it won’t matter as much. We won’t have to move anything or chase the water where the docks are. We’ll be able to operate as normal.”

While the excavation should end up having a big impact on the marina’s operations, it also provides a means for other large-scale improvements to take place in phase one of the Marina Master Plan and beyond. In the coming weeks visitors will begin to see a giant mound of dirt piled by the marina’s entrance, though it won’t last long as every ounce is expected to be repurposed for future projects.

Some of the dirt will be used to build on the existing beach, considerably expanding it to up to three times its current size and creating a more gradual slope to make it more user friendly for kids playing in the sand along with people trying to access the water from the beach.

Additional dirt from the excavation will be dumped south of the marina, an area currently dominated by wetlands. The dirt will be used to build up a flat shelf of land, creating about three new usable acres along the water for future improvement projects.

“This first phase will create a graded flat area for the future phases starting in the summer of 2020,” said Guarino. “The town is anticipating that is the location of the new marina office building: a new facility with offices, rentals, larger and better restroom accommodations and more infrastructure.”

The remaining dirt will be used to build up the shoreline on the north side of the marina area, at the bank near Summit Middle School, an area popular for fishing. And because the town is disturbing wetlands, the Army Corps of Engineers requires the town perform other wetlands mitigation projects in response.

In addition to the Big Dig, the town will begin implementing the first phase of the Marina Master Plan in mid-April, the biggest part of which is the relocation and expansion of the boat ramp. The old ramp will be covered during the expansion of the beach, and an upgraded ramp will be built in the wetlands area.

“The current ramp is technically two lanes, but they’re narrow and often used as one lane,” said Guarino. “This new ramp will be three considerably larger lanes. You don’t have to be an expert trailer driver, and three guests should all be able to back down at the same time to drop their boats off. That should help move things along.”

The town will be placing an ADA accessible ramp adjacent to the new ramp, though it’s still being designed and may well be installed after the rest of phase one is complete. A wider turnaround lane is being built above the boat ramp, which is expected to accommodate more vehicle traffic.

On top of the new ramps, phase one of the project will include the relocation of the retaining wall from near the existing boat ramp to the new wetlands area, creating a walkway for pedestrians. Finally, though not technically part of phase one, the marina may be adding an additional dock with 20 extra slips to help keep up with growing demand.

The price tag for the Big Dig and phase one of the project is about $4 million, Guarino said. The town issued $5.4 million in marina enterprise bonds in February to help fund the excavation, phase one and projects moving forward.

The Big Dig and phase one of the master plan are expected to be completed by the end of May, in time for the annual Rock the Dock party on June 1. But before the ribbon is cut on the new-look marina, the town will be hosting a Touch the Trucks event on April 4, inviting kids and their parents to check out the construction equipment and get an early look at the project’s progress.

“I remember when Frisco did the first major improvement to the marina, and it really felt like a big deal,” said Guarino. “It was modernizing our wonderful asset, it created a huge draw and provided a dining experience. It’s almost like watching a kid grow up here. It learned how to walk, became an adolescent and began to thrive. What we’re doing now is really building upon what the town has already done a great job creating, and we’re bringing it to its full potential.” 

Courtesy Summit Daily

New home sales rise 3.7% in December, signaling promising spring home buying season

New home sales rebounded in December, according to the latest report from the Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development. 

According to their analysis, new home sales reversed course from November, moving forward 3.7% in December. In fact, sales of new single-family houses increased to 621,000.

Although this is up from November’s revised rate of 599,000, December’s sales still fell 2.4% below the previous year’s level. 

“New home sales rose slightly in December 2018, but were lower than the year ago pace, much like other housing indicators that performed poorly at the end of 2018 - pending home sales, housing starts, as well as buyer and builder confidence,” Realtor.com Chief Economist Danielle Hale said. “Additional housing inventory is also evidence of a cooler start to the 2019 housing market.”

Hale pointed out that mortgage rates have drifted much lower and now sit just below year-ago levels. 

“Some housing indicators, such as mortgage applications and pending home sales, are starting to show signs of life, suggesting that some thawing could be ahead as we approach the spring buying season," she said. 

The median sales price of new homes sold was $318,600 and the average sales price was $377,000.

The seasonally adjusted estimate of new homes for sale by the end of the month was 344,000 in December, representing a supply of 6.6 months at the current sales rate.

Zillow Economic Analyst Matt Speakman said today’s new home sales data likely reflects November's pending transactions, which began when interest rates were near their recent highs and builders were aggressively cutting prices in response.

“The strategy largely appears to have worked, with sales volumes coming in better than expected — at least on the surface. Prior months’ activity was revised sharply downward, and sales ended 2018 below where they ended 2017,” Speakman continued. “New homes selling in December were likely permitted for construction in the spring or early summer, when the 2019 economic outlook was worse than now.”

However, Speakman indicates that more favorable conditions may be on the horizon.

“Building permits increased in December, and buyers appear responsive to conditions that are more favorable now than they were just a few months ago, when rates were climbing and the government shutdown loomed large,” Speakman said. “And price cuts are still relatively frequent, particularly in larger markets, which may goose sales volumes as prices fall within the budget of more buyers. It’s been a disappointing fall and winter, but the sun is coming back soon.”

Courtesy Alcynna Lloyd, HousingWire

Embattled Breckenridge troll finds a new home

#Breckenridge

Summit Daily

Breckenridge’s trailside troll, "Isak Heartstone," will move into Illinois Gulch this spring when the artist who created the sculpture made of reclaimed wood returns to Breckenridge to build a reimagined version of his work.

Town officials revealed the new location Monday night at the Breckenridge Recreation Center. 

The new spot was chosen by a task force comprised of staff from different town departments, tourism officials and members of the general public.

They picked Illinois Gulch for a number of reasons. 

It had to be on town-owned land. The nearby Stephen C. West Ice Arena provides ample parking most of the time, it’s far removed from any residential neighborhoods, and the ice rink is already being served by multiple routes on the town’s free busing system. 

To keep troll traffic segregated from the existing trail traffic, the troll will be built alongside a new trail about 200 yards into the woods from the trailhead.

Danish artist Thomas Dambo originally constructed the Isak Heartstone sculpture on the Wellington Trail — which ran directly behind a cluster of homes — as part of a summer arts festival.

The plan was to leave the troll, a reward for venturing into the woods, in place as long as it withstood the elements. However, residents felt the strain of all the troll traffic — literally bringing thousands of people into the neighborhood — and the troll was removed this November with Breckenridge’s elected officials citing safety concerns.  Courtesy Summit Daily.

Two avalanches tear through Ten Mile Canyon in Summit County on Sunday

#Summit County #Colorado

Summit Daily

The first of two avalanches to rip through Ten Mile Canyon on Sunday left the valley blanketed in a cloud of white dust, almost like a bomb had just exploded.

The heaviest snowfall of an already above-average winter hit Summit County over the weekend and culminated in a pounding on Sunday, and the second slide closed Interstate 70 between Edwards and Frisco.

Colorado State Patrol initially reported that people might have been trapped in the second avalanche. However, an agency spokesman later said that no vehicles were buried and there were no reports of any injuries. Still, the weekend snowstorm left many locals measuring snowfall with yardsticks, transportation officials scrambling to keep up with road closures and fears of an avalanche running high, even before the slides struck the canyon. 

“We don’t get a whole lot of snowfalls like this,” said Mark Goldberger, as he swept a thick blanket of snow off his pickup in downtown Frisco.

“This is just as bad as Michigan,” commented another man, Mark Leon, who’s actually from Michigan but was walking down Main Street Frisco underneath the cover of an umbrella. 

Summit Schools are closed Monday as a result of the weekend snowstorm, which plagued traffic across the I-70 mountain corridor all day Sunday after the snow began falling Friday, returned Saturday and continued throughout the day into Sunday night.

The March snowstorm led a crowd of skiers and snowboarders to Colorado’s ski areas and resorts in search of powder. And for those who made it, they likely got what they came for.

Coming into Sunday morning, Breckenridge Ski Resort was reporting 15 inches of new snow over the last 24 hours to bring the resort to more than 23 feet for the 2018-19 season.

Likewise, Keystone Resort also had a foot of new snow on the ground before the lifts started running Sunday at the same time that Arapahoe Basin Ski Area was reporting 11 inches of new snow overnight.

Sunday’s snow counts at the resorts won’t be in until 5 a.m. Monday. Still, estimates as of 3 p.m. Sunday had Breckenridge Ski Resort adding 10-11 more inches to its total while Keystone was eyeing another 7 inches or so.

But the snowfall wasn’t all fun and games and prompted the Colorado Avalanche Information Center to issue an avalanche warning for the northern and central mountains before the pair ripped through Ten Mile Canyon.

Sunday’s road-closing avalanche came after another one struck the same area during the morning hours and was captured on video by passersby, including from one of the Summit County Rescue Group’s volunteers, Brandon Ciullo.

“Avalanches come down in Ten Mile with some regularity throughout the winter,” said Charles Pitman, a Rescue Group spokesman, adding that Ciullo’s video only shows how tender the snowpack is right now.

Ciullo was heading west on I-70 to Glenwood Springs for an unrelated vehicle-recovery mission with the rescue group when he saw the avalanche between Frisco and Copper Mountain at about 7:47 a.m.

“It’s not the light, Champagne powder,” Pitman said of the snow. “It’s pretty hefty with a lot of water content so I’m sure — as you’ve probably seen on the CAIC website — there’s significant avalanche danger out in the backcountry right now.”

Ciullo soon posted the video of the first avalanche, which is believed to have been caused naturally, to a popular Facebook forum geared toward Summit County locals and his own personal page with the warning: “Plz share and be safe out there!!”

And Pitman hopes people will listen. Despite having a high number of avalanches in Summit County this winter, he added, there have not been any avalanche-related injuries here this season and he’d like to keep it that way.

“We’ve been very, very lucky,” Pitman said. “Colorado in general is on pace for a banner year as it were — in a negative way — for the people who’ve been caught and the number of fatalities, and this snowstorm that’s hitting the state right now is only going to make conditions worse.”

A lot of people assume that avalanches are only set at the top of a slide, but Pitman said many people don’t understand they can be trigged at the top, bottom or even from the side — all depending on the snowpack.

“When the conditions are this bad, our suggestion is that people take advantage of the snow by going to their favorite ski resort,” he said of one surefire way to play it safe. “I know it’s very enticing for a lot of people to go out and take advantage of this dump, but people really have to be aware of what can happen.”

For a detailed avalanche forecast, go to Colorado.gov/avalanche. Stay up-to-date with road closures by following CDOT’s Twitter account.

Courtesy Summit Daily

Summit County to host meeting on Dillon Valley workforce housing

#Dillon #Colorado

Summit Daily

Summit County will host a community meeting from 6 to 7:30 p.m. on March 6 to discuss a preliminary proposal for workforce housing in Dillon Valley. Residents and property owners will have the opportunity to learn about the proposal and provide feedback. The proposal includes deed-restricted homes located on a county-owned parcel on Straight Creek Drive.

“We’re really looking forward to having a conversation with the Dillon Valley neighborhood about this site and our continued efforts to address Summit County’s workforce housing crisis,” County Commissioner Karn Stiegelmeier said in a press release. “We want to hear residents’ thoughts and feedback so we can come up with the best plan for this property.”

In 2012, Summit County used housing funds to purchase 2.9 acres of land at 19 Straight Creek Drive, previously owned and occupied by Our Lady of Peace Catholic Church, for the purpose of constructing workforce housing. The Summit County Housing Department has developed a preliminary proposal for 2.5 acres, which could consist of a mix of three- and four-bedroom duplexes.  

The housing department will offer a presentation to provide details on the preliminary proposal and development process. They will then gather feedback and answer questions from attendees in order to shape the project as it moves forward.

The meeting will take place at Dillon Valley Elementary School, located at 108 Deer Path Road. Snacks, child care and translation services will be provided.

Courtesy Summit Daily

Pending Home Sales Bounce Back in January

 

After hitting to its lowest level since early 2014 last month, pending home sales rebounded in January.

The Pending Home Sales Index (PHSI), reported by the National Association of Realtors (NAR), is a forward-looking indicator based on signed contracts. The PHSI increased 4.6% from 98.7 in December to 103.2 in January, but was still 2.3% below the level one year ago, marking the thirteenth straight month of declines on an annualized basis.

NAR described the change in Federal Reserve policy and the end of government shutdown provided a boost to the housing market. With the falling mortgage rates, NAR expected more homebuyers would return to the market to take the advantage of lower borrowing cost and bring an expected increase to pending home sales.

Regionally, the January PHSI rose in all four regions, ranging from an increase of 0.3% in the West to 8.9% in the South. Year-over-year, the PHSI fell in the Midwest, South and West by 0.3%, 3.1% and 10.1% respectively, while rose 7.6% in the Northeast.

Though existing sales continued to drop in January, builder confidence rose by four points in February due to the gradual decline in mortgage rates and solid job market, indicating builders remained positive for the upcoming months.

 

Lackluster home sales push inventory growth in January

Inventory growth climbs to 10-year high.

In January, home sales declined for the sixth consecutive month, leading to the largest inventory increase in 10 years, according to the latest RE/MAX National Housing Report.

RE/MAX reports that although home sales retreated 11% on an annual basis, inventory climbed 6.4% year-over-year across the 54 metros it analyzed.

In fact, January was the fourth consecutive month of annual inventory growth, further reversing a decade-long trend of dwindling inventory, according to the report.

"The winter chill extended to the housing market in January, as home sales remained cool," RE/MAX CEO Adam Contos said. "The good news is that inventory levels in January continued to rise on a year-over-year basis, providing incremental improvement in what's been a multi-year shortage of for-sale homes. This is a positive for homebuyers, as the market continues to swing their way."

According to RE/MAX, homes sold for $234,000 in January, rising 4.6% from last year’s rate. That being said, the rate of growth was still considerably less than the 6.7% posted in January 2018.

Notably, homes spent 59 days on the market, marking a record low for January sold listings. Furthermore, January posted a 3.9-month supply of inventory, increasing from 3.4-month in January 2018.

"Underlying demand remains solid overall, as evidenced by widespread price increases," said Contos. "So the housing market, while not markedly busy in January, remains relatively healthy. Furthermore, with interest rates stabilizing and home-price increases slowing, the spring selling season shapes up to be as interesting as any we have seen in years."

NOTE: The RE/MAX National Housing Report is based on MLS data in approximately 53 metropolitan areas, including all residential property types, and is not annualized. For maximum representation, many of the largest metro areas in the country are represented, and an attempt is made to include at least one metro from each state.