Well, in a real-estate market like Denver that is ever changing there are many things to watch for. We have been talking about a slow down in our market for over a year and we can see that we are in the middle of it. For a few years we’ve experienced a market with homes flying off the market for $20,000 to $50,000 over asking price, as-is sales, and even appraisal waivers if the appraisal does not come in at value. Now with more homes coming on the market and a slight slow down of buyers moving into town, we see homes taking longer on the market, selling for right about asking price, and very few homes selling for as-is and hardly any appraisal waivers. Feels like a “normal” market where a seller has to price their home right, a market that they have to actually prepare their home to show well, and for a buyer, they have more than one house to choose from and more than a few hours to make their decision.
A market slow down like this does not mean that the market is in a decline, it simply means that the market we have been in for years is exceptional. With house prices going up year after year at a rate of 10-20% increase, we have been enjoying the best of our Denver real-estate. We are finally seeing the craziness slow way down. In fact, we currently see total home sales down 7% from this time in 2018, and the average days a home sits on the market going up another day, from 47 days on the market in 2018 to 48 average days on the market now in March 2019. Our inventory is up 2 more weeks from 4 weeks in 2018 to 6 weeks now in 2019. The biggest number that is making people a little nervous is the average price of a home only went up 2% in this last year. As I have addressed in past market updates I believe this number is actually a little skewed due to the past huge overbids. I believe this growth shows a little lower than the actual growth. Projections currently show that we should grow for the next few years at a rate of around 5-6% which I feel we should see soon. At the end of the day, we have been talking about a slowdown and we can now see all the signs of the slow down taking place. If you are a seller, take a little time and plan out your sale with a professional. If you are a buyer, get educated on the time of year to buy so that you do not overpay for a home and at the end of the day we still see our market here in Denver as a win-win for everyone!
The stats for March 2019 are in! See the infographic from ReColorado below:
