December real estate inventory gets a fill
The number of active Denver metro single-family listings at the end of November of 4,572 represents over a two-fold increase (216.6 percent) from a year ago, as the Denver market enters territory it hasn’t seen in years — a market balanced between buyers and sellers.
We’re still not there — the market is still more weighted in sellers’ favor, as it has been for several years — but the latest market data, driven primarily by rising interest rates, shows the change. All the key metrics reveal it. For Denver metro single-family homes, from October to November:
- The average price dropped 0.6 percent to $732,437
- Average days homes listed in the MLS rose 20.0 percent to 36 days.
In November, the months of inventory for Denver single-family homes priced $1 million and over surpassed three months of inventory for the first time in a long time. Months of inventory reflects how long it would take to exhaust the current inventory at the current sales pace. Six months is considered a balanced market.
The market is becoming more balanced, but activity is also down, with the number of closed transactions of Denver single-family homes at 2,050 in November, a 46.0 percent drop from a year ago.
Want help navigating on the changing Denver neighborhood real estate market? Email me at kharris@milehimodern.com
How buyers and sellers are reacting
I’ve seen both buyers and sellers begin to take a wait-and-see approach. Uncertainty with interest rates, the economy and the ongoing war in Ukraine has paused some activity.
Also, because home prices have come down 8.9 percent since a 2022 high in March, some buyers are waiting to see if home prices will drop even further. Sellers, on the other hand, are waiting to see if prices may rebound.
Aside from those needing to transact now, those are sound strategies, and ones I’m using with some of my clients.
But it’s important to note that things are still moving; we had three milehimodern listings recently go under contract quickly, including a home listed for $2.2 million in Sloan’s Lake, which went under contract in under 48 hours.
There’s still action, for the right homes, priced right.