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

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