FORT COLLINS — As the population of Larimer and Weld counties continues to grow in the coming years, new residents will need places to live, and those places will likely be smaller and closer together than the single-family neighborhoods that have historically dominated the housing market in many parts of Northern Colorado. 

“Attainability and density is probably where this market’s going,” Evan Forrest said during the BizWest Northern Colorado Real Estate Summit held Tuesday on the campus of Colorado State University in Fort Collins. Forrest is a vice president with real estate-data firm Zonda Home.

Townhomes are becoming an increasingly popular option for young families looking for something attainable but with more space than apartments and condos. 

“If you have the jobs, they will go to the jobs,” Forrest said of homebuilders and homebuyers. So for Northern Colorado to continue growing at a healthy clip, “we have to figure out how to bring a (robust and diverse) economic base up here.”

Macroeconomic factors — higher interest rates, for example — have resulted in “demand … becoming a little bit slower, but not worrisome,” Forrest said. 

Heading into the busier spring and summer months for homebuying, the market is “showing signs of improvement, but there are some warning signs out there.”

Homebuilders are bracing for increased material and labor costs as a result of President Donald Trump’s tariffs and immigration policies. 

“Homebuilding margins are going to continue to be pressed,” Forrest said. “This could slow down building” activity. 

On the plus side, “overall, we’re still showing pretty strong demand” compared to other parts of the county,  “and we’re trending in the right direction (not only in) Northern Colorado, but up and down the Front Range,” he said.