Denver home sales prices continue slide in August
Metro Denver home sale prices dropped for the second month in a row in August, and days on market have reached a breathing-room level of 19 days, when it was just nine days a year ago, according to the most recent Denver Metro Association of Realtors Market Trends report.
The average sales price for multifamily and single-family homes in the 11-county metro Denver area dropped 5.93% to $657,284 in August compared to the previous month, but 6.78% higher than 2021. The median price also dropped month-over-month slightly to $579,900, which was up 8.49% from August 2021,the report shows.
It was the third month prices either dropped, or stayed flat from the previous month.
There were 6,939 homes available for sale at the end of last month, down 5.73% from July but up almost twice as many as August 2021.
“All of the major statistical categories are pointing towards the market slowing down,” Market Trends Chair Andrew Abrams wrote in the report. “Sellers have to recalibrate their expectations and patience after a wild summer. Even with these changes, there has still been growth and balance within the market.”
The end-of-summer market showed continued cooling as the number of closings dropped 5.93% from July to 4,221. That’s 30.21% less activity then August 2021.
The drop in prices — list-to-price ratio dropped below 100% for the first time since July of 2020 — is simply adjusting from historic highs, according to Abrams.
“While some will take this as a sign that the real estate market is about to crash, this simply is not the case,” he wrote. “The Denver Metro market show signs of seasonality. Year-to-date, the median sales price is up 8.49% translating to the average homeowner gaining $49,233.51 in equity. New listing dropped 15.5% from last year at this time.
“Sellers are no longer incentivized to move as their current interest rate is most likely significantly lower than what they could get if the bought.”
He predicted the inventory of for-sales homes will continue to drop for the rest of the year, adding “if interest rates stay below six percent, we could see a hot start to the new year.”
An interesting stat from the report showed the number of for-sale single-family homes, called “detached,” were up 114.58% from August of 2021 to 5,298 homes, while multifamily home inventory grew 47.44% in that time.
“The majority of buyers motivations have shifted from buying for financial reasons,” according to Abrams, “to buying for their lifestyle.”