What’s your definition of a luxury home? Four car garage? City or mountain views? Lots of acreage?

According to the Denver Metro Association of Realtors it boils down to any property over $1 million. And for the homes that fall into that category, the majority of homes that sell are well below $1.5 million.DMAR compiles residential real estate statistics each month in the Denver metro area which includes 11 counties: Adams, Arapahoe, Boulder, Broomfield, Clear Creek, Denver, Douglas, Elbert, Gilpin, Jefferson and Park. And each month, Usaj Realty runs a real estate market report blog detailing home sales in Denver.

Denver’s luxury properties, or homes that sold for $1 million or more, continue to post strong sales and proves there is a robust market for high-end homes. The median price for luxury single family homes and condos is $1.3 million. The closed price vs. list price continues to be negligible: average agreed to price was within 3.5% of the listed price, further illustrating the value of homes in this category is considered appropriate.

In 2019, there were 2,421 units sold (detached and attached single family homes) in the luxury market which represents almost a 12% increase over 2018. Keep in mind, only 865 luxury units were sold as recently as 2014.

Denver Luxury Condos

Luxury condos are hot, though the market is much smaller than that of single family homes. There were 36 sold properties in December 2019, compared to the 15 the previous month (11/19).

The big news in this sector was the sale of a penthouse atop the Four Seasons Hotel in January 2019. The asking price was $10.75 million, which was met. This opulent 6,295 square foot home with two 373 square foot balconies, 3 bedrooms and 5 baths, pushed the average condo sold price in January 2019 to a whopping $2,538,000 (the median sale price was $1,262,500).

But don’t despair. The grand penthouse at the Four Seasons is still available. The $13 million property at 1133 – 14th St., #4400 offers 6,786 square feet of living space, 3 bedrooms, 5 baths, and most of all, astounding views.

See homes for sale in the Four Seasons, Denver

Luxury condos used to be on the market much longer than single family home, typically twice that of single family homes. But that gap shrunk dramatically in 2019. In December 2019, condos were on the market a median of 22 days, compared to the 26 days of luxury detached family homes.

The median sales price of luxury condos is lower than that of luxury single family homes — $1,245,000 compared to $1,312.500.

Luxury Single Family Homes Denver

In December 2019, 152 luxury homes sold compared to 119 in December 2018, representing almost a 28% increase year-over-year.

The median sold price of a luxury single family home for 2019 was $1,312,500. That’s a just a bit of an increase of 1% over 2018. The average sale price in December 2019 was $1,546,706 compared to the previous month of $1,593,813. Both these figures are well above the 2018 average of $1,495,696. Keep in mind, several high-priced property sales can skew the average price.

Speaking of high priced properties: The highest priced home since 2008 sold in December 2019 for a cool $11.625 million. Located at 5000 E. Quincy Ave., in Cherry Hills Village. This opulent layout includes six bedrooms, 11 bathrooms, almost 24,000 square feet of living space and plenty of privacy on the surrounding  8.73 acres. The home was on the market for about six months.

Still, it’s nowhere close to the current listing at 8 Cherry Hills Park Drive. At $19,750,000, you can own a 30,000 square foot home that includes 6 bedrooms, 13 baths, and a bowling alley, wine grotto and cigar lounge, racquetball court, golf simulator, fitness studio, pool, to name just a few of the many amenities. And yes, it does include a view of the mountains.

Denver’s Luxury Rental Market

Like luxury home buyers, there are plenty of people out there willing to spend top dollar on lavish rentals. According to a recent study by Apartment List, Denver and the rest of the U.S. has seen a dramatic increase in the number of high-income renter households. Metro Denver had the largest percentage increase over the past decade of any major metro area in the number of households who rented and made over $100,000 per year.

From 2008-2017, Denver experienced an 146% increase in the number of people earning over $100,000 and choosing to rent instead of buy.

The prevailing thought is that people are opting for the flexibility that renting provides them. This trend includes both Millennials and retiring Baby Boomers, who desire to live in urban neighborhoods that don’t require maintenance, yard work or a mortgage.

Still, it appears as Millennials get older, the eldest of that generation are buying homes more and more, as the younger ones continue to push up demand for rentals. According to a report by the Urban Institute, younger millenials delaying marriage is one of the top reasons they are continuing to rent instead of opting to buy a home. The homeownership rate among millennials, ages 25 to 34, is around 8 percentage points lower than it was for Gen Xers and baby boomers when they were in the same age group. Student loans are one of the factors at play in deciding to put off settling down.

Are you ready to make your luxury living dream a reality? Contact Usaj Realty today to learn more about how we can help you find or sell your luxury home

 (Editor’s Note: This article was originally published in February of 2019. It has been completely revised and updated to reflect recent statistics and trends).