DMAR Real Estate Market Trends Report | SEP. '19
While Denver-area homebuyers have a number of market conditions in their favor, home sales were down overall last month.
In August, new listings, homes under contract, and days on market were up for Denver-area’s entire residential market. The number of homes sold, average and median sold prices, and sales volume were down, as were interest rates.
“In 2019, homebuyers and sellers are not having the same experience their neighbors did last year,” said Jill Schafer, Chair of the DMAR Market Trends Committee and Metro Denver REALTOR®. “In the first half of 2018, home sellers were taking offers over the weekend and selecting the best one in the stack on Monday. This year, sellers are making price adjustments as they try and find the right price point to entice buyers to make an offer.”
Furthermore, median days on market has jumped up 27.27 percent from July to August and up a significant 57.14 percent year to date. While the percentage is significant, it reflects an increase of seven days to 11 year over year.
According to Schafer, buyers have appreciated this slightly slower paced real estate market. They have an option to compare a number of homes on the same day, instead of one home at a time as they trickle onto the market throughout the month. Homebuyers have even been able to do some negotiating as the close-to-list-price ratio dropped to 99.36 percent year to date compared to above 100 percent at this point in the past few years. The lower interest rates also improved their buying power allowing some to move up in price.
While homebuyers have a number of market conditions in their favor, the number of homes sold in August was down 10.91 percent month over month and 0.72 percent year to date compared to last year.
Schafer comments, “Sellers should still be skipping happily on the real estate playground. Even though they aren’t selling their homes as quickly, they are still getting more money than they would have last year.” Average and median sold prices dropped a bit month over month but were up 2.22 percent and 1.45 percent respectively year to date compared to 2018.
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), “Premier Market Report” (properties sold between $500,000 and $749,999), and “Classic Market” (properties sold between $300,000 and $499,999). In August 2019, 222 homes sold and closed for $1 million or greater – down 11.20 percent from July and up 5.71 percent year over year. The closed dollar volume in the luxury segment year to date was $2.578 billion, up 28.80 percent from last year.
The highest-priced single-family home that sold in August was $7,200,000 representing five bedrooms, six bathrooms and 7,295 above ground square feet in Niwot, just outside of Boulder. The highest-priced condo sale was $5,525,000 representing three bedrooms, four bathrooms and 5,092 above ground square feet in Denver. The listing and selling Realtors® for the condo transaction are DMAR members.
The luxury segment continues to grow with 1,671 sold homes thus far in 2019, which is significantly up from 1,231 in 2017 and 773 in 2015. Notably, while the number of sold homes priced $1 million and up has continued to grow, the average price has held strong at around $1.5 million since 2015. However, the single-family segment is showing a slight decline with 194 homes sold in August versus 225 in July, but it is still on track with stats from this time last year.
Average days on market in the luxury segment remain strong at 59 days, up just one day from July’s 58 average days on market and down four days from 62 at this time last year.
“The Luxury Market has been holding strong this year,” states Libby Levinson, DMAR Market Trends Committee member and Metro Denver Realtor®. “While sales in the luxury segment of the market remain steady, home sellers are rejoicing because close-price-to-list price is at 97.4 percent versus 97.01 this time last year.”
According to Levinson, the luxury condo market is “buzzing” with 28 sold properties in August, which is a noticeable jump from 13 this time last year, resulting in 189 total units sold year to date in 2019. This is a big jump from 127 units sold at this time in 2018 and just 58 units in 2015. Due to the number of sales coupled with increasing prices, the sales volume in August almost doubled year over year with over $45.4 million.
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