It’s the end of August - will Labor Day slow us down?
Welcome to Market Monday, where we review the Denver real estate market and break it down into clear and informative bites! If you have any specific questions or areas of the market you’re curious about, reach out and I will do my best to get you an answer.
We’re almost to the end of August, and we’ve seen very few signs of any major changes to the current breakneck pace of the Denver housing market. Anecdotally, in the past month, I have seen multiple properties go under contract sight unseen, with many more getting multiple very strong offers within 1-2 days of being on market.
But let’s get to the statistics! The past few weeks saw levels of low inventory similar to what we’ve been experiencing - across all price points and including both attached + detached homes, the market is sitting at 0.7 months supply of inventory (MSI). This means that if no more new homes entered the market, and the current level of demand stayed consistent, we would run out of homes in less than one month. Under the $500,000 price point, inventory is even lower, at 0.5 MSI!
During the week of 8/12 - 8/18, 25.6% of listings saw a price decrease - that’s up 1.7% from the prior week, and up 11.1% compared to pre-COVID numbers. Of those, the average price reduction was 4.5% of the list price - so if your property was priced at $550,000, 4.5% = $24,750.
The average dollar amount of a price reduction was $30,253, up 21.2% from the prior week! But remember, this is across all price points - for homes under $500,000, the average price reduction is $14,326.
Lastly, I wanted to briefly touch on the upcoming Labor Day holiday weekend. Last week, active listings saw an average of 5.1 showings per week (up 3.3%), with around 16 showings to an accepted contract (up 2.4%).
Take a look at the graphic (“Showing Data All Prices”) - and at the dip in average showings we saw for the week of July 4 and Memorial Day (28% and 25%, respectively). In both cases, the following week’s showing numbers were even higher than the prior week. However, Labor Day comes along with kids returning to school, the weather changing, and typically, a bit of a slower season in the housing market. Given the uncharted waters we currently find ourselves in, it’s impossible to predict - but it seems unlikely that the pace of this market will all of a sudden hit the brakes hard.
Sellers: With the uncertainty around what will happen over the holiday weekend, it may be a good idea to list before then if you can - but with low inventory and 7 median days on market, you’re still in a great position to sell. Just make sure it’s clean, put together, and priced right - things are still sitting in this market if they’re not.
Buyers: I hate to sound like a broken record, but I have to repeat myself: low rates make it a great time to buy - but the heavy competition definitely makes it harder! We may see a slight easing of the crazy competition as school starts and the weather changes, so if you’re in a position to make a move, it could be an excellent time!
Questions or Comments? Leave them below or contact me at the button!
Numbers and stats from Megan Aller, First American Title.