DMAR Real Estate Market Trends Report | JAN. 2024
As the market dives into 2024, buyers appear to be wearing rose-colored glasses, ready to put themselves back in the real estate market as they finally have more choices. New listings increased 14.73 percent to 3,280 year-over-year with a higher percentage of new listings for detached properties up 17.94 percent to 2,301. Pending home sales increased 6.5 percent to 3,294. While median days in MLS increased 5.88 percent to 36 days. Closed sales lagged by 6.26 percent; however, this isn’t all that surprising as this number trails by a month highlighting homes that sold in January that went under contract in December.
Single-family pending sales rose 11.95 percent year-over-year while the median close price increased to $625,000. Median days in MLS stayed firm at 37 days and the percentage of close-price-to-list-price rose to 98.34 percent. This is in contrast to the ratios last year that often reflected full-price offers but had large concessions to help buy down mortgage rates.
Attached pending sales decreased 6.61 percent year-over-year to 848 from 908, showcasing that attached sales are moving slightly slower. Closed sales also decreased 13.70 percent while the median close price remained the same as last year at $395,000 – $25,000 less than the median sales price in December of $420,000. Additionally, median days in MLS increased to 34 days from 28 last January.
“This month’s big news is that the Fed did not adjust interest rates and as a result, we likely won’t see an adjustment until spring at the earliest,” commented Libby Levinson-Katz, Chair of the DMAR Market Trends Committee and Metro Denver Realtor®. “When rates do start declining, this will be much-needed relief and will also help to assuage some uncertainty with the presidential election this year.”
Levinson-Katz continued, “The spring selling season will likely be strong this year due to pent-up demand and more favorable lending terms. While it’s not a consistent prediction, if interest rates decline below five percent, we may see tighter inventory and more competitive scenarios once again. Many buyers are waiting on the fence for interest rates to continue their downward descent. However, trying to time the market for lower interest rates before the market heats up may result in buyers paying more in the long term if they find themselves in a bidding war.”
DMAR’s monthly report also includes statistics and analyses in its supplemental markets that include properties sold for $1 million or greater, properties sold between $750,000 and $999,999 and properties sold between $500,000 and $749,999.
For homes priced $1 million and above, this past month saw a flurry of new listings, up 172.61 percent over last month and 39.87 percent over last January. Many buyers were just as ready, with pending homes up 46.05 percent over last month and 23.33 percent over last January.
The market is also clearing older, slower-moving inventory from the latter part of 2023. With fewer options coming to market in recent months, closed homes $1 million and above were down 26.33 percent from December. Fewer active buyers during that same time meant homes were on the market longer, leading median days in MLS to go up to 55 days from 33 days last month. These two trends will reverse with more activity and options from January and the months ahead.
“Competition between buyers is picking up and will continue to do so in the months ahead as we enter our busier time of year in Denver Metro and can expect buyer and seller activity to ramp up further after the Super Bowl,” said Nick DiPasquale, DMAR Market Trends Committee member and Metro Denver Realtor®. “February is also the season of love, and I find that navigating the market is akin to dating. It requires proper expectations and the right mindset. There will be competition and the fear of rejection that comes with it. There might even be heartache. Through it all, when you find the one that is meant to be, you simply know and it all works out.”
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