Tag: Denver Housing Market Stats

Colorado Real Estate News

Home Prices In Denver Set Another Record

by Kentwood Marketing

Property value or real estate sales evolutionTalk about March madness. Last month, home prices in Denver set yet another record. According to the Denver Metro Association, the average price of a single-family home sold in March rose to $522,277. That is a 3.77% increase from February, which marked the first time the average price topped $500,000. And it was up 11.7% from a year earlier. These record prices are hitting the market just as the spring buying season begins to heat up.

Denver March Market Stats 

The good news is that prospective house-hunters will have more homes to choose from than in February. 6,335 new listings hit the market last month, a 36.4% jump from the new listing that came on the market in February. And buyers are out there. Some 5,674 homes were placed under contract in March, a robust 34.52% increase from February and a 4.76% increase on a year-over-year basis. Homes also sold faster in March than in February. The average days on the market was 44 in March, a 15% improvement from 51 days in February.

Denver March Market Stats

Still, there is no doubt the market still suffers from a longtime shortage of homes for sale. Currently, there is only a 1.16-month inventory of unsold homes on the market. That is a mere five weeks. There is less than a month’s inventory of homes priced from $200,000 to just below $500,000. Even the luxury market ($1 million +) has only a 5-month supply. Normally, that would be considered a balanced market between buyers and sellers. In fact, the luxury market continues to be the strongest. There were 163 luxury home sales in March, a 43% jump from February and a 20.74% increase from March 2017.

Denver March Market Stats 

“The luxury market ended the first quarter like Villanova: the big winner!” exclaimed Jill Schafer, a broker with Kentwood Real Estate and a member of the DMAR Market Trends Committee.

Denver March Market Stats 

Meanwhile, if you look at the entire first quarter data, buyers have purchased 10,577 single-family homes and condos, a 6% decline from the first three months of 2017. Because of rising prices, the sales volume of all homes was a record $4.85 billion in the first quarter, a 4.7% increase from the first quarter of 2017. With sky high prices and strong demand, this spring is a great time to list your home!

Denver March Market Stats 

Colorado Real Estate News

February 2018 Housing Market Report

by Kentwood Marketing

February 2018 Housing Market ReportDenver, the most expensive housing market between the two coasts, hit an important milestone in February. For the first time ever, the average sold price of a single-family, detached home topped $500,000, at a record breaking $502,986. The year-over-year appreciation was up 11.78% from February 2017. The dramatic price increase came as the total sales volume posted a double-digit drop. The 2,002 single-family homes sold in February marked a 10.59% reduction in closings from a year earlier, DMAR data shows.

February 2018 Housing Market Report

Home prices are rising while at the same time mortgage rates are rising. Rates are now averaging close to 4.45% for a 30-year mortgage, while rates below 4% were available not long ago. Part of the reason home prices are going up so quickly, especially so early in the year, is because some people are bidding up home prices before they rise even more.

February 2018 Housing Market Report

Historically, when single-family home prices shot up, more consumers – especially first-time buyers – chose less expensive condos and townhomes. With an average price of $345,632, attached homes are significantly less expensive than single-family homes. However, condo prices have risen even more than single-family homes jumping 16.95% from February 2017.

February 2018 Housing Market Report

Another, often overlooked, reason the average price has risen so much is the mix of homes being closed. That is, more expensive homes selling in any given month can drive up the average price. Indeed, the $1 million and up price range showed the most improvement of any price strata from a year earlier. 102 homes priced at $1 million and over sold last month, a whopping 56.92% increase from the 65 luxury homes that traded hands in February 2017.

February 2018 Housing Market Report

At the end of February, there was a 7.83-month supply of unsold $1 million-plus homes on the market. That’s a 37.46% plunge from the 12.52-months of inventory for luxury homes a year ago. Overall, there was a 1.51 month supply of homes on the market, a slight increase from the 1.46 months of inventory on the market in February 2017. However, buyers will find slim pickings for homes priced between $200,000 and just under $500,000. In that price range, there is less than a month’s supply of unsold inventory.

February 2018 Housing Market Report

An uptick in the number of homes on the market, both on a month-to-month and a year-over-year basis is good news for prospective buyers. There were 4,084 houses, both single-family and attached, on the market at the end of February, a 5.56% increase from January and a 5.31% increase from February 2017. If inventory levels continue to rise, it could help to dampen the rising prices.

February 2018 Housing Market Report

Colorado Real Estate News

Denver Real Estate Market Experiences a Build-Up Of Inventory

by Kentwood Marketing

September Market Stats 2017In September, Denver-area home sales slowed more than the typical seasonal slowdown. This may be a sign that if you want to close the sale of your home by the end of the year, you will need to make some adjustments.

There were 4,427 total home sales in September, an unusually large 21.6% drop from August and a 15.6% drop from September 2016, according to data from the Denver Metro Association of Realtors. By comparison, September 2016 showed a more typical, seasonal drop of 11% and 5.5% from the previous August and September 2015, respectively. Home sales showed big month-to-month drops across the board. The biggest price band drop was for single-family homes priced at $1 million or more, which experienced a 25.38% slowdown from August. “September activity in the single-family luxury market fell like the autumn temperatures resulting in a buildup of inventory,” according to Jill Schafer, Kentwood Real Estate broker and a member of the DMAR Market Trends Committee.

At the same time, luxury homes fared very well when compared to a year earlier. The sales of the most expensive homes soared 24.36% last month from September 2016. And homes priced from $750,000 to $999,999, showed the largest year-over-year, increase of any price band, jumping by 31.24%. On a month-to-month basis, single-family priced from $500,000 to just under $750,000, showed the second largest slowdown, with sales falling 24.34% from August.  In fact, on a month-to-month comparison, the only price range that showed an increase was for single-family homes priced between $100,000 to $199,999. While homes in that price range jumped 18%, only 26 homes traded hands, as there are few homes available priced below $200,000.

If you are house-hunting, now is a great time to consider buying a condominium or town-home. There were 1,893 attached homes on the market in September, a 9.68% increase from August and a whopping 19.96% jump from September 2016. The average sold price of a condo last month was $313,096, almost $163,000 less than the $429,597 average price of a single-family home sold in September. The sale price of both condos and single-family homes were down slightly from August, but were up 8.5% for single-family homes and up 9.6% for condos. Despite the slowing sales, there was only a 1.8-month supply of single-family homes on the market last month and a 1.5-month supply of condos. A market balanced between buyers and sellers has 5-to-7 months of inventory, so Denver is still a strong seller’s market.

Regardless of the slowdown last month, the year still is slightly ahead of where it was in 2016. In the first three quarters of this year, there have been 43,558 total closings, for a record sales volume of $18.85 billion. In terms of year-to-date sales, the market is 3.22% ahead of where it was last year. In terms of dollar volume, the market is 11.82% ahead of where it was this time last year.

Colorado Real Estate News

Home Sales in the Denver-Area Show Typical Seasonal Slowdown

by Kentwood Marketing

Denver August Home SalesEvery market has a season. The Denver housing market is no different. In August, home sales in the Denver area showed a typical seasonal slowdown. With a market as hot as Denver, any cooling can seem like a bigger deal than it is. There were 5,324 single-family and condo/townhome sales in August, a 5.8% drop from July, according to the most recent report by the Denver Metro Association of Realtors. That is fairly typical month-over-month drop this time of the year and is a long way from a meltdown.

Home sales did fall 8.6% from August 2016. However, if you dig into the last year’s statistics, the year-over-year drop this year isn’t surprising. That’s because in August 2016, sales bucked the normal trend and actually rose a bit from July. Also notable is that the average price of all homes sold last month stood at $434,478. That is a 2.75% dip from July, but a record for August. August 2016, in fact, was the first August on record where the average price of all homes sold topped $400,000.

By the numbers, all home prices are up 8.17% from August 2016. And that’s a time when the inflation rate remains below 2%. Another way to look at is that home prices have been rising at 4 times the inflation rates. The good news is, the average price of a single-family home was $483,574, a record for an August, but down 2.21% from July. The average price of a home likely will not top $500,000, a milestone that seemed likely earlier this year.

There were 7,360 homes on the market last month, basically flat from July and up less than a half percent from a year earlier. August of last year marked the lowest inventory of any August on record and last month didn’t give house hunters many more homes to choose from.

What is interesting is that the active inventory of attached homes, mostly townhomes, surged in August. There were 1,726 attached homes on the market last month, a 4.7% increase from July and a whopping 17.2% from July 2016. So, if you want to buy a townhome you have many more choices than a year ago. The single-family inventory of 5,634 homes, dropped 1.2% from July and 3.76% from August 2016. By contrast, the inventory of single-family homes fell 1.21% from July and was down 3.76% from August of last year.

Colorado Real Estate News

Denver Area Housing Market Continues to Boom

by Kentwood Marketing

While a record-breaking hail storm hammered parts of Denver last month, neither hail, rain or even a May snow could dampen the Denver-area housing market.Denver Area Housing Market

The average sale price of a single-family home sold last month approached $500,000. Per the Denver Metro Association of Realtors, that’s a 2.84% increase from April, and nearly 10% jump from a year earlier. When condos are thrown into the mix, the overall average price for all homes sold last month was $449,736, a 9.83% year-over-year increase.

Indeed, Denver was the fourth fastest appreciating market in the country, according to the most recent report by Case-Shiller. Only Dallas, Seattle, and Portland out-performed Denver. Case-Shiller also reported an 8.4% year-over-year increase in home values in March. The 20 cities tracked by Case-Shiller showed an overall gain of 5.2%. And mortgage rates during the Memorial Day holiday fell to 3.94%, the lowest point so far this year.

Last month, almost as many homes were sold as were available in the active inventory of unsold homes, according to DMAR. Despite rising prices, more sales took place in May than in either April or May of last year. There were 5,320 homes sales last month, an 11.46% increase from April and almost a 2% increase from a year earlier. There were 5,895 active listings on the market last month.

While a market the size of Denver could easily handle three times that many homes for sale, it was still nearly a 10% increase from April and close to an 8% increase in supply from May 2016. The increase in sales left the market with a 1.18-month supply of homes. In other words, if no additional homes were added to the market with the sales pace remaining the same, all the homes would be sold in a little over five weeks. Overall, the months-of-inventory was 4% lower than it was this time last year.

Some of the biggest drops in months-of-inventory occurred for the highest priced homes.

For homes priced at $1 million and above, there is a 5.83-month supply of inventory, a 21.8% drop from a year ago. Homes priced from $750,000 to just under $1 million, showed an even bigger drop in inventory levels with a 2.89-month supply of unsold homes in that price range, down 22.9% from a year earlier.

Not only did home prices rise last month, but they also sold faster. On average, a single-family home took only 27 days to sell. That is 10% faster than in April and 12.9% faster than in May 2016. Last month, buyers snapped up $2.4 billion in single-family homes, townhomes, and condos, a 14.65% increase from April and 11.92% year-over-year increase.

It appears no matter what surprises the weather might have for us this summer, the Denver-area housing market will continue to blossom.

Colorado Real Estate News

Denver Home Supplies Dip to Record Low

by Kentwood Marketing

Real Estate | Low Supply

Just as the market is poised to enter the strong spring sales season, the supply of homes in the Denver area has dipped to a record low. There were a mere 3,878 unsold homes on the market in February, according to the latest report by the Denver Metro Association of Realtors. That is a 2.78 percent drop from the previous low-water mark, which was set in January. With demand still strong, the low supply of homes has left the market with only a 1.45-month supply of unsold single-family homes. That equates to a little more than a 6-week supply of homes on the market, a 12.4 percent drop from the months of inventory available a year earlier.

The shortage of homes to buy is especially pronounced for homes priced from $200,000 to just under $400,000. There is less than a two-week supply available for homes priced from $200,000 to $299,999. Move up one tier to $300,000 to $399,999, there is slightly more than two weeks’ worth of inventory on the market. The condo market is even tighter. There was only a 1.1-month supply of unsold condominiums on the market last month, and there is less than a two-week supply of condos priced between $100,000 and just under $300,000.

One piece of positive news, however, is that more new listings are hitting the market. There were 4,561 listings for single-family homes and condos added to the market in February, almost a 20 percent increase from January, according to DMAR. New listings also were up 6.8 percent from February 2016. Of those new listings, 71 percent, or 3,247, were for single-family homes. The number of homes placed under contract picked up in February, both on a month-to-month basis, as well as year-over-year. There were 4,350 homes placed under contract in February, a 17.8 percent jump from January and almost a 5 percent improvement from a year earlier.

The increase in under contracts came, even as home prices continue to rise. The average price of all homes in February was $402,516, up slightly from January, but a 7.8 percent increase from a year earlier. The average price of a single-family home, at $447,838, showed a similar trend: barely moving up from January, but rising 8.6 percent from February 2017.

With fewer homes to choose from and strong demand causing prices to rise, this spring is sure to be a great time to sell your home.

Colorado Real Estate News

Home Prices Continue to Rise in Denver

by Kentwood Marketing

Denver Home Prices Continue to RiseThe Denver-area housing market has never been tighter. According to the most recent report by the Denver Metro Association of Realtors, there were 3,989 active homes on the market in January. That is not only the lowest inventory level ever reported for a January, but also the fewest number of homes on the market ever. The record low inventory level resulted in a mere 1.41-month supply of unsold homes on the market last month. Here’s another way to look at it: if every home was sold and no new homes made it to the market, buyers would have no more homes to purchase in a mere six weeks.

Every price strata last month showed a drop in inventory levels from January 2017. Only homes priced at $1 million or more would arguably be considered a buyer’s market, with an inventory of nine months. However, even in that price range, there has been a year-over-year 14.3 percent drop in supply. For homes priced from $100,000 to just under $400,000, there is less than a one-month supply of inventory. Only homes priced between $750,000 and $999,999 would be considered one in balance between buyers and sellers, with about a 5.5 months inventory.

As expected, with such a low supply of homes on the market, home prices continue to rise. The average price of all homes sold last month topped $400,000, rising 8.35 percent to $402,979. The average price of a single-family home rose even more. Single-family home prices jumped 9.25 percent to $448,374. Overall, the sales volume of all homes last month topped $1.2 billion, an 8.31 percent increase from a year earlier.

As winter begins to wind down, with the confluence of a record low inventory and rising prices, now is a great time to call a real estate professional and put your home on the market. It’s an especially great time to sell your home, as mortgage rates remain low. With a 30-year fixed-rate hovering around 4.2 percent, it’s an increase from the very bottom but still extremely low by historic standards.

Colorado Real Estate News

2016 Sets Records for Denver Housing Market

by Kentwood Marketing

Sales Growth | Denver Housing MarketLast year was one for the record books for the Denver-area housing market. Buyers snapped up $22.23 billion in single-family homes, condos, and townhomes, eclipsing the previous record set in 2015 by almost $2 billion, according to the Denver Metro Association of Realtors. Year-over-year sales were flat, with a total of 55,634 homes trading hands.

At a time when the inflation rate was less than 2 percent, home prices soared. The average price of all homes sold for the entire year was just under $400,000, a 10.06 percent jump from the previous year. The median price of all homes sold sat at $349,900, rising by 11.43 percent.

Both single-family and condo home prices set records. The average price of a single-family home sold at $442,467, booking a 9.07 percent increase from 2015. Meanwhile, the average price of a condo showed an even bigger percentage gain with a 12.1 percent increase. There were only 1,025 active condos and townhomes on the market at the end of December and condos accounted for 24 percent of total active listings.

In total, there were only 4,265 homes available to be purchased at the end of December, the lowest number on record for a December. The extreme shortage of homes led to a mere 1.09 months of inventory, an 8.4 percent drop from a year earlier. For homes priced from $100,000 to just under $500,000, there was less than a month’s inventory available to be purchased. Even for homes priced at $1 million or more, there is only a 7.63-month supply of unsold homes.

So what is in store for 2017? While no one knows for sure, the low supply of homes is likely to continue to put pressure on home prices. At the same time, the higher prices themselves, as well as rising interest rates, are headwinds that could damper sales and home prices this year.