Denver Real Estate Market Update – February 2019
Although we still see signs of the Denver real estate market balancing out, 2019 is taking off right out of the gate.
2,644 homes sold in January. This is down 29.57 percent from December and down 14.79 percent from January of 2018. This doesn’t sound like 2019 is taking off? However, remember, sold means that 2,644 homes closed in January. These are homes that likely went under contract in December. We see a bit of a different story if we look at homes that went under contract in January. 4,161 homes went under contract in January. This is up 33.97 percent over December and, more importantly, up 7.24 percent over January of 2018.
In 2018 Denver saw it’s real estate market start to soar right after the new year. Looks like we are seeing a similar start to the year in 2019. But in 2019, we also see an increase in inventory and new listings. Denver had 5,881 homes on the market at the end of January, which is up 5.45 percent over December and up a whopping 52 percent over January of 2018. January also saw an increase in new listing over the prior January with 4,821 new properties hitting the market. This is an increase of 13.6 percent over January 2018.
The average home sales price in Denver came in at $461,101 in January. This is an decrease of .26 percent from December and a 2.89 increase over January of 2018. The average sales price for a detached home came in at $500,683. And the average sales price for an attached home came in at $358,294.
The 2.89 percent year over year increase in average sales price is the lowest I have seen in years. For the longest time Denver saw double digit increases in year over year average sales price. This started to change mid 2018. So, what does it mean? After 2008 many people are worried that we are in a bubble. They are bracing themselves for the next market crash. However, keep in mind that double digit increases in home prices is not sustainable. And really, it’s not healthy. With those types of increases, homes quickly become unaffordable. Healthy year over year increases should mirror closely the rate of inflation. The lower year over year increases in the Denver market indicate that prices in Denver are balancing out. Sales are still strong and yes, it is still a seller’s market.
Average days on the market came in at 43 days in January. And median days came in at 28. For the longest time median days were under a week. This has been slowly increasing along with the increase in inventory.
Homebuyers and sellers can both be pretty happy in the current Denver market. Homebuyers have some more choices than seen in the recent past. And sellers can still rest at ease knowing they are listing in a market that is still tipped in their favor.
If you are planning to buy or sell a home in the Denver area contact Courtney Murphy. Courtney is a Denver metro Realtor and long time resident with experience in both resale and new built home sales.