What happened to the Denver Real Estate Market...Denver Realtor Explains

It is a good question, but as best I can tell 3 things:

Buyers are skittish to get into a bidding war, and interest rates got so low for a while, then rose about 1%; not a lot but any excuse not to do something is a good one for a nervous buyer.

Asking prices of homes got a little bit higher than the buyers liked too quickly and buyers have started to feel they were priced out of the market. A normal human response is they are not wanting to embarrass themselves by “low balling” an offer.

This year we have had a season of fires and floods here in Colorado. Some folks are distracted by that news much as I have been! But seriously, I closed a transaction this last week where a supplemental inspection for flood damage had to be done, in the Cherry Creek Area of Denver (no flooding there). It was required by the underwriter at the mortgage company because of the FEMA disaster declaration. In the past there were homes we could not get insurance on because of the fires in the state. This distraction will fade.

What is my upshot on this current market condition? Things have not really changed, and for sellers who want to wait it could be worth the wait. Buyers on the other hand may make their own situation worse by waiting further. They should take advantage of the sellers who have not sold in 30 days like folks did the beginning of this year and the historical interest rates. But everyone tells you it is a great time to buy a home. Finally; sellers need to be honest with themselves about prices, as ultimately that is what will sell a house.

A Full Time Licensed real estate broker since 1985 I go to work everyday for you & your friends, learning about our home town! It could be Highlands Ranch, Lone Tree, Littleton, Castle Rock, Centennial, Englewood, Parker, Elizabeth, Larkspur, Franktown, Kiowa, or anywhere in metro Denver Colorado. Talk to me for real estate advice, properties for sale, multiple listing service, all available at www.DenverRelocation.com. Drop me a note to pete@Denverrelocation.com

Wildfires to Monsoons

Two weeks ago we were have horrendous and devastating wildfires with over 500 homes lost on the front range. Today downtown Denver has already received 1.2 inches of rain and a highway in the High Park burn area suffered a mudslide. I suspect the 4 day total is close to 3 inches of rain. Flooding in downtown and in the low areas. Be careful. Where to live? On a hill in the grasslands away from the trees. Better to have a mountain view. Rain can soak in and the burnable material is far less. MOST of metro Denver fits these parameters. A Full Time Licensed real estate broker since 1985 I go to work everyday for you & your friends, learning about our home town! It could be Highlands Ranch, Lone Tree, Littleton, Castle Rock, Centennial, Englewood, Parker, Elizabeth, Larkspur, Franktown, Kiowa, or anywhere in metro Denver Colorado. Talk to me for real estate advice, properties for sale, multiple listing service, all available at www.DenverRelocation.com. Drop me a note to pete@Denverrelocation.com

Denver Real Estate History-since 1989

As I pondered why more folks are not buying up in a down real estate market, I realized that they have never seen this before. I on the other hand, have. The end of the Carter Reagan recession occurred in 1989-1990 and we saw a true turn in Denver's real estate market. This is one of the benefits of making sure your Realtor is a full time dedicated professional, not just a friend. Experience can pay dividends in multiple places. Here is a short clip explaining where we are:

Pete Doty, Denver Realtor has been a Full Time Licensed real estate broker since 1985 I go to work everyday for you & your friends, learning about our home town! It could be Highlands Ranch, Lone Tree, Littleton, Castle Rock, Centennial, Englewood, Parker, Elizabeth, Larkspur, Franktown, Kiowa, or anywhere in metro Denver Colorado. Talk to me for real estate advice, properties for sale, multiple listing service, all available at www.DenverRelocation.com. Drop me a note to pete@Denverrelocation.com

Denver Real Estate continues positive news

Denver Foreclosures are still trending at 29% fewer than in 2010. This Realtor sees good news for home owners but worries there are not enough homes for sale.
A Full Time Licensed real estate broker since 1985 I go to work everyday for you & your friends, learning about our home town! It could be Highlands Ranch, Lone Tree, Littleton, Castle Rock, Centennial, Englewood, Parker, Elizabeth, Larkspur, Franktown, Kiowa, or anywhere in metro Denver Colorado. Talk to me for real estate advice, properties for sale, multiple listing service, all available at www.DenverRelocation.com. Drop me a note to pete@Denverrelocation.com

Denver Real Estate Sales Edge UP

As a Denver Realtor every month I do a quick analysis of the Metrolist (multiple listing service) sales data as well as new listing data for single family homes in metro Denver. This month, to show you what the real estate market is like in Denver, I did a short video...hopefully it will explain my excitment. This market is already taking off!

As I meet with folks trying to buy a home here, after all the national news of how bad the real estate market is, it is hard to explain that we are just a hair away from being in a full blown SELLER's MARKET! That homes are selling fast and there is very little inventory, as a matter of fact there were only 13,873 single family homes for sale in all of metro Denver on the 15th.

When a market shifts like it did in 2004, it can be very sudden to the point that the feeling of being left behind can be prevalent. And while a home search may not be all fun and games, the rewards of getting to the right house fast can make all the difference. So when you want to find a house to make a home here in Denver, or Highlands Ranch, or Littleton, or Centennial, or Englewood...call me.

A Full Time Licensed real estate broker since 1985 I go to work everyday for you & your friends, learning about our home town! It could be Highlands Ranch, Lone Tree, Littleton, Castle Rock, Centennial, Englewood, Parker, Elizabeth, Larkspur, Franktown, Kiowa, or anywhere in metro Denver Colorado. Talk to me for real estate advice, properties for sale, multiple listing service, all available at www.DenverRelocation.com. Drop me a note to pete@Denverrelocation.com

Denver Foreclosures down 30%

Denver Realtor reports inventory shrinking and days on market are down too! Sellers market!

Fewer homes to buy mean prices will be going up. Fewer days on the market mean the buyers are sucking up the supply. The bottom of this real estate market in metro Denver Colorado is behind us. The time to act is now.
A Full Time Licensed real estate broker since 1985 I go to work everyday for you & your friends, learning about our home town! It could be Highlands Ranch, Lone Tree, Littleton, Castle Rock, Centennial, Englewood, Parker, Elizabeth, Larkspur, Franktown, Kiowa, or anywhere in metro Denver Colorado. Talk to me for real estate advice, properties for sale, multiple listing service, all available at www.DenverRelocation.com. Drop me a note to pete@Denverrelocation.com

Denver Home Sales, Denver Realtor Explains

The Denver real estate experts have been stating that sales are down and the bottom is still ahead of us. I guess they are correct IF they use the anomalous year of 2010, but if I were drawing the trend lines you would see that 2010 should have been the bottom of the market and a ski jump at the far right side of the above chart. Why was 2010 anomalous? The first time buyer incentive skewed the entire year of Denver's real estate sales into the first half of the year. That means more sales occurred in the early part of the year and the latter part of the year was very sparse. The ski jump trend of increased sales seems to have started in December of 2010.

The other bit that I find interesting is the number of "new" single family listings entering the market continues to shrivel. Back in 2006, 2007, and 2008 it was pretty steady, but then in 2009 and 2011 (2010 was an anomaly) it has really dropped with the fear of the economy. However with this uptick in closed sales, that may be changing in front of your very eyes. Want to know more about Pete Doty? Go to http://www.denverrelocation.com/  or listen to my podcast -Denver Realtor.

Living in Highlands Ranch the values have been fairly steady mostly due to the demographic nature of the total community. Lone Tree, Cherry Hills Village and Greenwood Village are similar. Other communities in town have suffered more due to the nature of the households, dual income, lower income, hourly workers, where a layoff or reduction in time on the job stressed the household income. Or it could have been "elective housing" with lots of toys that required debt service, or resort properties, which have really taken a beating in this past two years.

So the answer is, it is past time to make that move. Multiple offers due to lack of inventory are starting to raise their heads. The foreclosures are being "gobbled up" in any condition, and short sales are doing what they always have...create a huge amount of frustration for the Buyer, the Seller and both agents. They will become much more scarce in the coming months as folks start to see the light at the end of the tunnel.

A Full Time Licensed real estate broker since 1985 I go to work everyday for you & your friends, learning about our home town! It could be Highlands Ranch, Lone Tree, Littleton, Castle Rock, Centennial, Englewood, Parker, Elizabeth, Larkspur, Franktown, Kiowa, or anywhere in metro Denver Colorado. Talk to me for real estate advice, properties for sale, multiple listing service, all available at www.DenverRelocation.com. Drop me a note to pete@Denverrelocation.com

Feeding the Denver Hungry, Update

Back in December I was feeling like I should do something with all the Blessings I have been given and decided to start a program where I would give $100 per closing to a charity. This idea was from a long lost Realtor friend Vince Seimer and he really plowed the field of the concept. OKAY, the picture is a little edgy but I really am thankful I do not have to stand out there every day to make a living.

So after consulting with both my pastor and the local Realtor Association the Inter Faith Community Services foodbank was chosen. My personal goal is to donate $2,500 to Inter Faith and to have you add to that by joining me at http://www.denverrelocation.com/JoinPete.html. You do not have to match me dollar for dollar, just add a buck or 2 to each donation. Once you sign up Inter Faith will let you know how much is due AND when other donations are made by me.

So how are we doing? So far $700 has been directly deposited with Inter Faith and there are matching pledges of $59 for each one hundred I donate [you could also buy or sell a home with me ;-) that would help too!]. To start all this I needed an appropriate picture and "moniker" to go on the card board sign. The photography was provided by Carol Grape of Grape Imaging free of charge.

By the way I have been a full time licensed Colorado real estate broker since 1985. I go to work everyday for you & your friends, learning about our home town! It could be Highlands Ranch, Lone Tree, Littleton, Castle Rock, Centennial, Englewood, Parker, Elizabeth, Larkspur, Franktown, Kiowa, or anywhere in metro Denver Colorado. Talk to me for real estate advice, properties for sale, multiple listing service, all available at www.DenverRelocation.com. Drop me a note to pete@Denverrelocation.com

Normal Healthy Rest - Denver

Sometimes words come from un-expected places. Those above have been part of my life for the last few weeks, but not as I have been resting, rather training. What I am learning is that all markets have periods of growth and then rest. Just as man wakes up and stretches and rolls over and goes back to sleep, the real estate market may do that too.

However, there is a sense that we are about to see an amazing period of growth and "work" if you will. There are lots of reasons for this, but as the shopping season is hard upon us for the holidays, my wife confirmed some learning I had gotten....""I bought that at XYZ and it was 20% off the 20% off price". If you were asked today "What would be a good price for that $2400 refrigerator" my guess is you might say 40% off?

How does this relate to real estate in Denver? About a year ago I know of a house that would have sold (closed) for about 450k. Today maybe 400k. I have a client whose home was worth 385 -400k 2 years ago. Today it is listed for 329k.

People get excited about some prices and the fact is every market has normal and healthy rest periods just as we do when we sleep. Then when we wake we go off to work, and things start to grow again. That is what I see the Denver market doing...waking up...ready to grow.

Is it time for you to wake up too? Investment in real estate wise that is?

A Full Time Licensed real estate broker since 1985 I go to work everyday for you & your friends, learning about our home town! It could be Highlands Ranch, Lone Tree, Littleton, Castle Rock, Centennial, Englewood, Parker, Elizabeth, Larkspur, Franktown, Kiowa, or anywhere in metro Denver Colorado. Talk to me for real estate advice, properties for sale, multiple listing service, all available at www.DenverRelocation.com. Drop me a note to pete@Denverrelocation.com

Houses still selling

In Denver, in July, 2185 homes sold, prices are up, days on market are down and the number of sales year to date is also up. What the press and the National Association of Realtors did not tell you is that July almost always "slumps" compared to June. Here is the chart of sales in Denver since 1999 http://www.denverrelocation.com/DenverStatisticschart.html.



OK, I have stomped that to death. What am I seeing out in the market? Buyers who have decided to take advantage are being cautious. Sellers are nervous. Homes not in top condition are languishing on the market while homes in good condition are selling quickly. Neighborhoods that have had prices stay steady if not edge up a bit have continued their slow climb while others that were more impacted by lower prices have rebounded a little more quickly.



As an example in July the "Denver" metrolist there was a 7.4% increase in average sale price while having the average days on market drop 14.3% and total sales for the year to date were up 1.2%. The Highlands Ranch and Lone Tree sections of that same MLS indicate a 2.7% increase in average sale price while days on the market fell 3.9% and the total sales were up 4.2% from the previous year.



Is there a sweet spot? Yes and no...with interest rates as low as they are most folks are figuring out a way to re-finance. The sellers that need to move get realistic quickly on their price and condition. But if there is a spot it is in the 330-450k range as those folks want to move up, but cannot until theirs sells.



The range that seems most active is still in the 200k area although I have great traffic on a 279k listing with lots of showings. And a 349k home that languishes. A year ago I said the sweet spot was the million plus market as the small builders were folding their tents and leaving them with the banks. Now I think the move up market is the prime target.





Pete Doty - Denver Realtor - A Full Time Licensed real estate broker since 1985. I go to work everyday for you & your friends, learning about our home town! It could be Highlands Ranch, Lone Tree, Littleton, Castle Rock, Centennial, Englewood, Parker, Elizabeth, Larkspur, Franktown, Kiowa, or anywhere in metro Denver Colorado. Talk to me for real estate advice, properties for sale, multiple listing service, all available at www.DenverRelocation.com. Drop me a note to pete@Denverrelocation.com