Increased inventory, longer days on market... transition to a more balanced market for buyers and sellers?

 Will this crazy appreciation explosion continue or crash? Is it time to cash out on your home's appreciation? How do I find an affordable replacement home? Do first time home buyers even stand a chance? Solving these dilemmas starts with reading our updated market report.

June saw increases in inventory, days on market and months of inventory, which is good news for homebuyers. 

“Over the past few years, the fireworks from our housing market were visible from almost every street corner,” said Steve Danyliw, Chairman of the DMAR Market Trends Committee and Metro Denver REALTOR®. “Those fireworks, while still around, are not being seen in every neighborhood. It’s important to remember that a transition to a balanced market doesn't mean a bubble is around the corner.”

Active listings in the residential market (single-family and condos) were at 7,436 total units in June. The number of sold listings increased by 15.52% compared to the previous month, and 5.34% from last June. Year to date, there have been 27,228 homes sold - down 3.07% from 2017. The condo market saw an uptick in days on market, increasing to 18 days compared to 16 last June. The most active price segment for the single-family market for June was $400,000 to $499,999 and $200,000 to $299,999 for condos. 

Months of inventory increased to 1.43 months for single-family homes compared to 1.28 months last month, and increased to 1.21 months for condos compared to 1.08 months last month. For the single-family home market, the average sold price increased 0.71 percent month over month to $539,934, while the median price decreased 0.56% to $452,500. The year-to-date average sold price hit $526,150 for the single-family home market, up 10.27% from last year, with the median sold price at $445,000 up 8.54%. Like most of 2018, the condo market in June outperformed single-family with the average sold price of $353,429, representing a 12.5% increase over 2017. The median price of condos sold also increased by 13.18% to $299,925. 

Of the homes that sold in June 2018, the median detached single-family home was 1,802sf, 4-bedrooms, 3-bathrooms, spent 7-days on market and was built in 1986. The median attached single-family home/condo was 1,180sf, two bedrooms, two bathrooms, spent 6-days on market and was built in 1993.

In June 229 homes sold and closed for $1 million or greater – down 4.18% from the previous month and up 9.57% year over year. The closed dollar volume in June in the luxury segment was $ 359,918,385 up 0.75% from the previous month, and up 14.46% year over year.

The highest priced single-family home sold in July was $7,500,000 representing 7-bedrooms, 10-bathrooms and 17,851sf above ground in Cherry Hills Village. There has been a shift in the Metro Denver area condo market with new buildings containing the first floor as retail, potentially the second floor as office space and the remaining floors as condos. The highest priced condo sold was a two-unit deal, including one retail space and one condo. The listing sold for $3,100,000 representing 4-bedrooms, 3-bathrooms and 3,584sf above ground in Denver. The second highest priced condo sold was $2,950,000 representing 3-bedrooms, 4-bathrooms and 3,120sf above ground in Denver. 

The sales volume of luxury homes in the 11-county Denver Metro area was up more than 31% compared to this time last year.  The $1,631,089,116 year-to-date sales volume is more than $1 billion - yes, that’s billion with a capital B - higher than it was at this point in 2014 when it was $624,407,260. There were 1,068 luxury homes sold by the end of June, compared to 394 in 2014 and 790 sales in all of 2013.

More than 32% of this year’s sales were cash, and it’s not just the cities you expect to have luxury homes sales. So far this year, 40 cities in the metro area have had sales of homes priced above $1 million. Both the detached and attached single-family luxury markets are headed into the second half of the year favoring sellers with less than five months of inventory. We'll see if the rest of 2018 keeps up at this pace.