An experienced agent more important than ever

With the holidays fast approaching, buyers have an extra bit of frenzy as they look to wrap up purchases and get things settled before family visits, travel and other holiday business takes over.

In October, closed sales dropped 12.8 percent from September to October, and 19.3 percent from last October. This occurred while new listings rose slightly month-over-month and held approximately steady from a year ago. 

For single-family Denver metro homes, the average days on market rose from 10 days to 13 days from September to October and the median home price dropped by 0.9 percent to $688,629 in October.

These are subtle signs of a seemingly normalizing market, but I can tell you from boots on the ground that the market is as complex as it has ever been in my over decade as central Denver neighborhood real estate agent.

In many ways, that’s the new normal — the expertise, experience, and insight required to successfully navigate the market now as an agent.

The inventory is extremely low, appreciation high and negotiations — with buyers looking to place contingency-free offers — more complicated.

Want an agent who can expertly navigate the increasingly complex Denver neighborhood real estate market? Reach out to me at kharris@milehimodern.com

The complex market

With a market still starved for inventory, the Denver metro real estate market faces a complex real estate environment as 2021 heads for a close.

In fact, I’ve seen the market get more complex every year, thanks to the billions of dollars investors are pouring into new companies and business models. Some of these changes have impacted buyers and sellers — such as companies that buy homes directly from sellers such as Opendoor — and others have not become readily apparent. But, those on the ground everyday, like I am, see the transaction and negotiation experience changing.

For example, a presale we’re doing on a Milwaukee Development pop-top — a pop-top describes a remodel that adds a second story to a single-story home — in Congress Park stands out (Milwaukee Development is the real estate developer I’ve partnered with on numerous homes in the last several years). It will be the only pop-top  in that neighborhood in the last five years.

We’re pricing the home at just under $2 million, but the nearest pop-top comparable in Congress Park went for $1.6 million. We’re pricing it higher because that home sold approximately five years ago, and, as we know, the market has blazed in recent years.

This type of pricing requires a real estate agent who knows the neighborhood well and is experienced enough to recognize the nuances and stand-out features of a home that support accurate pricing. Our marketing will communicate this value of the home, and, because I know my core Denver neighborhood market intimately, that the comps appraisers will fall in other neighborhoods and support this price.

The fact that this home is going as a presale provides another example of this complex market. A presale, in this case, defines a home that sells before the remodel has taken place. In this way, it’s kind of a hybrid with a new-home purchase.

They attract buyers, especially in this market, because they can tie up a home well ahead of time and skip the bidding frenzy that accompanies desirable Denver listings. It also requires a connected agent, who knows of these opportunities thanks to a robust, healthy network with other local agents.

I’m seeing my deep experience in the Denver neighborhood market increasingly pay off for clients. Buyers are aggressively putting it all on the line to win properties, which makes negotiations, on both the sell and buy side, tricky to navigate well. Doing this well only comes with experience.

Reach out to me at kharris@milehimodern.com