Denver Housing Market Update
Prices are at new historic highs in the Denver metro area this July 2020, with the average sold price of single-family home jumping to $601,863. And another record was set: the most homes sold in a month.
Luckily for current buyers, interest rates are incredibly low and that will make a dent in the monthly mortgage payment and give buyers a little bit of wiggle room with price, a much needed reprieve since inventory is extremely low and prices are high. Active listings are down over 31 percent from this time last year and the average sold price of single family home jumped to $601,863, up from June’s $560,435. This was a 9.92 % jump-year-over year. This is by far the biggest jump we’ve seen in quite some time.
According to the Chair of the DMAR Market Trends Committee Jill Schafer, “Buyers were not slowed by the pandemic as June’s record number of pending sales converted to an all-time high in the number of closings in any one month on record. Nearly seven percent more properties closed in July than our previous high in June 2017.” The number of contracts accepted was down month-over-month from 7,381 in June to 7,122 in July.
First 7 months of 2019
| Days on Market | Avg. Sold Price: Single Family Home | Avg. Sold Price: Condo | # of Homes Sold | # of Homes Pending | Avg. Sold Price Change YOY | |
| Jan. 2019 | 39 | $508,016 | $350,176 | 2,915 | 4,008 | + 2.89 % |
| Feb. 2019 | 39 | $512,312 | $349,801 | 3,468 | 4,443 | + 0.66 % |
| Mar. 2019 | 31 | $530,897 | $360,875 | 4,488 | 5,448 | + 1.79 % |
| Apr. 2019 | 28 | $553,371 | $368,565 | 5,205 | 6,470 | +1.5 % |
| May 2019 | 24 | $555,482 | $380,363 | 6,164 | 6,470 | +3.36 % |
| June 2019 | 23 | $547,461 | $370,442 | 5,772 | 6,101 | +1.57 % |
| July 2019 | 25 | $551,516 | $362,922 | 5,415 | 5,944 | +4.27 % |
First 7 months of 2020
| Days on Market | Avg. Sold Price: Single Family Home | Avg. Sold Price: Condo | # of Homes Sold | # of Homes Pending | Avg. Sold Price Change YOY | |
| Jan. 2020 | 45 | $532,494 | $355,754 | 3,324 | 4,923 | + 3.98 % |
| Feb. 2020 | 39 | $544,054 | $368,936 | 3,835 | 5,083 | + 5.04 % |
| Mar. 2020 | 29 | $567,382 | $386,344 | 4,296 | 4,992 | + 7.31% |
| Apr. 2020 | 20 | $550, 177 | $379,495 | 3,603 | 3,280 | + 1.52 % |
| May 2020 | 23 | $543,072 | $368,241 | 3,548 | 6,809 | – 1.31 % |
| June 2020 | 24 | $560,435 | $371,172 | 6,179 | 7,381 | + 2.06 % |
| July 2020 | 24 | $601,863 | $383,174 | 6,664 | 7,122 | + 9.27 % |
Source: DMAR
Housing Market | Sold Prices and Active Listings in Metro Denver:
Stats below include data for Adams, Arapahoe, Boulder, Broomfield, Clear Creek, Denver, Douglas, Elbert, Gilpin, Jefferson, and Park Counties
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Headlines: What’s Happening in Denver
Report: Denver’s low millennial homeownership rate matches national average
“A little over 39% of millennials in the Denver area are homeowners, a rate that puts the Mile High City in the middle of the pack of the 53 largest U.S. urban areas and consistent with the national rate.
The Denver-Aurora-Lakewood ranking of No. 24 among metros with more than a million people comes in a new analysis from home improvement services website Porch.”
Denver’s decade-long rent growth ends in second quarter
“For the first time in more than a decade, the Denver apartment market saw declining year-over-year rent growth, according to the Apartment Association of Metro Denver’s quarterly Denver Metro Area Apartment Vacancy and Rent Survey.
The second-quarter survey, conducted by the University of Denver’s Daniels College of Business and Colorado Economic Management Associates, noted that compared to second-quarter 2019, average rent decreased to $1,506 per month, a $30 monthly decrease and a $360 annual decrease. This represents an inflation-adjusted 2.1% decrease in rents. The last time rents were lower than the period 12 months earlier was in the first quarter of 2010.”
– Colorado Real Estate Journal
Denver real estate market hot during pandemic
“Denver metro residents might not being seeing as many ‘for sale’ signs out this summer, but the real estate market is still hot, according to experts. According to the Denver Metro Association of Realtors, the number of pending homes in June is up 27% from last year.”
Denver real estate slump may be over as homes under contract surge
“The market was peaking in March—before COVID-19 hit and showings stopped. ‘Now we are back up like crazy [with] the highest number of pending contracts we’ve ever had in one month. So, apparently even with the restrictions, people are finding a way to get out there and put houses under contract,’ says Jill Schafer, chair of DMAR’s Market Trends Committee. ‘It’s almost like the market took that couple of months break, but then picked right back up to where it was.'”
Headlines: What’s Happening Nationally
Where does the U.S. housing market go from here? Five experts share predictions for the rest of 2020
“Mortgage rates are searching for a historic bottom. Home prices are inching up toward record highs. Home shoppers are looking for deals. Homeowners are weighing selling versus refinancing.
A lot is going on in the U.S. housing market on the backdrop of an even messier national state of affairs. After an unprecedented first half of 2020, what could the next six months bring? Here is what five housing economists and experts anticipate.”
– Forbes
It’s official: The U.S. won’t see a housing bubble crash anytime soon
“At some point in the future, home prices will fall and sales will decline year over year, but even when this happens it will not constitute a bubble crash anytime soon.
Today, we are on an upswing. The U.S. housing market is undergoing a V-shaped recovery, but until existing home sales hit 5,770,000 again, the full recovery in existing home sales will not be complete as that was the number we hit earlier this year…As long as purchase application data stays flat to positive on a year-over-year basis, housing will be fine in 2020.”
Rising COVID-19 cases dent U.S. consumer confidence; housing market presses ahead
“The burden of unemployment from the pandemic has fallen disproportionately on low-wage workers, who economists say tend to be renters. The housing market strength could persist, with the Conference Board survey showing the share of consumers planning to buy a home in the next six months surging in July.”
– Reuters
Report for July 2020:
Read Denver Metro Association of Realtor’s full report on last month’s Real Estate trends and statistics in Denver here.
And as always, please let us know if you have any questions!
