In a year of continued turbulence, October represented a month of relative ease in the bumpy Denver real estate market, signaling gratitude across the housing industry. Across the board, the majority of statistics were seasonally consistent with what Denver has seen in years past, boding well for more households having the ability to host a Thanksgiving dinner. With prices staying consistent month-over-month, the door has opened for buyers that were previously exhibiting burn out in the home search process.
In the month end active inventory, Denver saw that when lower numbers change, they yield higher percentages. At the end of October, there were 3,376 properties on the market, a 14.98 percent decrease from the previous month. The amount of listings also decreased by 13.28 percent, showing minimal changes in the month end inventory.
There were over three times more single-family properties closed last month in the $500,000-$750,000 category than any other price point. However, currently there are more single-family detached properties available over $1 million than any other price point, which is far less surprising than the quantity of for sale properties between $500,000-$750,000.
“Earlier in the year, expectations from sellers were that their homes would sell for substantially above asking price,” commented Andrew Abrams, Chair of the DMAR Market Trends Committee and Metro Denver Realtor®. “While properties are still closing above asking at 101.82 percent of the list price, realities have caught up with expectations. Buyers can be grateful that the extreme bidding wars are less common, and those without 20 percent to put down have a fair shot at a house and the continued low interest rates can keep monthly payments down.”
This month’s report showed that even though the homebuying and selling process has been hard, and Realtors® have had to constantly re-strategize as buyers have felt demoralized and sellers have had to move, there is still much to be thankful for. There have been more homes purchased year-to-date than years past, seasonal effects have re-opened the door for those that had previously felt demoralized from the buying process, and Denver is quickly moving into holiday season, where there are consistently gaps of buyer demand leading into the holiday season.
Our monthly report also includes statistics and analyses in its supplemental “Luxury Market Report” (properties sold for $1 million or greater), “Signature Market Report” (properties sold between $750,000 and $999,999), “Premier Market Report” (properties sold between $500,000 and $749,999), and “Classic Market” (properties sold between $300,000 and $499,999).
In the Luxury Market, sellers also had much to be thankful for with homes only taking 25 median days in MLS to sell, and sellers receiving 101.77 percent of their list price. While luxury sellers have great opportunities to sell quickly and for top dollar, Denver did not see as many homes come on the market, with new listings down 19.51 percent from the prior month, and down 5.94 percent from one year ago. As soon as a listing came on the market it was under contract, with 421 homes moving to pending status, up 4.21 percent from last month. With less homes on the market, Denver saw a 17.01 percent decrease in our sales volume month-over-month, and 12.04 percent dip year-over-year.
Buyers moved quickly as single-family luxury new listings were down 19.45 percent month-over-month but down 3.30 percent year-over-year. There were 352 new single-family listings and 366 of those were pending in October. Sellers had to move quickly as well as an average single-family luxury home was only on the market 26 days and sold for 101.83 percent of the list price.
“While sellers are getting over their listing price, buyers should be thankful to know that they are paying $2 less per square foot than one month ago at $341 a square foot for a single-family luxury home and $3 less per square foot for an attached luxury home at $516 per square foot,” said Brigette Modglin, DMAR Market Trends Committee member and Metro Denver Realtor®. “We hope that maybe that’s a sign that construction prices are finally coming down.”
