DMAR Real Estate Market Trends Report | NOV. '17
2017 is on pace to set a new record for the number of homes sold in the Denver area. Also notable, luxury homes priced $1 million and over saw a 50 percent increase in sales year over year.
October set a new record low for housing inventory in metro-Denver for the month of October with 6,312 listings, down 16.79 percent from the month prior and 6.22 percent from last year. Contributing factors to the low inventory included fewer new listings coming to the market, down 3.06 percent from last year, and the number of homes sold increased by a healthy 9.75 percent month over month.
“The inventory number was a little scary in October and it was not what we were hoping to see,” said Steve Danyliw, Chairman of the DMAR Market Trends Committee and Denver REALTOR®. “In addition to fewer listings coming to the market, low housing inventory was also due to the surprising treat of higher-than-expected homes under contract. As we tend to see normal seasonal slowing, under contracts increased by more than nine percent from last month and last year. Even with cooling temperatures, homebuyer demand remains strong.”
According to the DMAR Market Trends Committee, average active listings in the residential market (single-family and condos) for October is 16,306 (1985-2016). The record-high October was in 2006 with 29,722 listings, and 2017 represents a new record-low with 6,312 listings.
“Seasonally, we expect the number of sold homes to drop 4.18 percent month over month; the larger 9.75 percent drop in homes sold compared to the month prior was expected due to the low amount of under contracts in September. Even with the number of closings dropping over the last couple of months, we are still ahead of last year as year-to-date homes sold was up 3.3 percent over 2016. At this pace, 2017 should set the record for number of sales,” adds Danyliw.
Additionally, the report cites that REALTORS® report home sellers are beginning to reduce prices, yet the average and median sales prices in October were up year over year by 11.85 percent to reach $443,873 and 8.88 percent to $380,000, respectively.
Danyliw comments, “While this is good news, take into consideration the mix of properties sold. We had a substantial increase in the $1 million plus segment.”
Our monthly report also includes statistics and analyses in its supplemental Luxury Market Report (properties sold for $1 million or greater), Signature Market Report (properties sold between $750,000 and $999,999) and Premier Market Report (properties sold between $500,000 and $749,999). In October, 158 homes sold and closed for $1 million or greater, up 32.77 percent month over month and up 49 percent year over year. The closed dollar volume in October for all luxury residential was $242,929,424, up 31.71 percent month over month and up 53.74 percent year over year.
The highest priced single-family home sold in October was $5,275,000 representing four bedrooms, six bathrooms and 7,826 above ground square feet in Denver. The highest priced condo sold was $2,325,000 representing four bedrooms, five bathrooms and 3,523 above ground square feet in Denver. The listing and selling agents for both transactions are DMAR members.
“The Luxury Market hit a sweet spot in October,” stated Jill Schafer, DMAR Market Trends Committee member and metro Denver REALTOR®. “After a very strong summer, the sale of single-family homes priced $1 million and over dipped a bit in August and September, only to rally again in October with sales up 40.38 percent from September. Luxury condo sales were down 20 percent from September to October, but that’s still up 50 percent from the same month last year.”
Year to date, sales volume topped $2 billion, and the sale of single-family homes was up 27.67 percent and condos was up 60.44 percent. So far in 2017, luxury single-family homes and condos are selling faster overall with the median days on market down 16.28 percent and the average price per square foot hitting a record-high at $303. “The playing field is close to equal between homebuyers and sellers with just over six months of inventory,” adds Schafer.
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