The end of the year draws ever nearer, raising spirits as we hopefully close 2020 on happy notes. Even the real estate market seems to be feeling the positive vibes of closing out this year. Sales are up, prices are up, but inventory still remains low. Not surprisingly, Colorado is still a destination location for people to move; ranked second in places to live and fifth most environmentally friendly areas. Add in stunning views and endless activities year-round Colorado is truly a wonderful place to live.
If you’re thinking about moving to the Denver metro area, it may be a bit difficult finding your dream home. Prices are rising every month still, at just around 4.5% monthly. The average home price in the Denver area is currently at about $562,000. That’s over 16% from last year’s price. This gain is in large part due to the lack of houses available on the market. At the beginning of the month, the Denver area had less than 5,000 active listings. That’s down 43% from last year, and nearly 10% fewer than last month. This is a trend we’ve noticed all year long. People are holding onto their assets, whether for fear of an unstable market with record unemployment, or they’re watching the continuing rise in prices and want to continue to establish equity gains before selling.
Regardless of the lack of inventory, sales are still growing. Matching the growth in average home prices, the rate of home closings has grown 16% over last year. There is extreme competition out there for home showings. With the regulations around COVID-19 in regards to open houses and home showings there’s limited time to schedule walkthroughs and decisions have to be made quickly. Not the ideal market for homebuyers, but with experienced and knowledgeable realtors on your side you’ll still find a wonderful home.
Boulder County is seeing similar trends, year-to-date; but this recovery in statistics has only been a recent one. The luxury market in Boulder County had been suffering for well over a year, with the multi-million dollar home prices dropping substantially it looked as though Boulder was having trouble in the real estate market. In reality, the homes available in the $400k-1mil range were selling as fast as they could come onto the market, with low inventory adding to the fold. We can blame the threat of wildfires or the economy, but people weren’t shopping for luxury homes. That was so until last month, when we started seeing a return to the luxury market, and that still holds true as we approach the end of the year. This month alone average home prices in Boulder rose over 18%, bringing the average to just over $829,000! As a note, Boulder has 1/3rd the active listings as last year.
Longmont is, as expected, seeing the same trends as the rest of the Denver Metro Area. Low inventory. High sales numbers. Increase in home prices. Much like Boulder, Longmont’s home prices have risen over 16% from last year. This brings the average price of a Longmont single-family detached home to about $546,000. A surprising thing to note is the duration of a listing in Longmont, on the market an average of 51 days, which is still fewer than last year. Compared to the rest of the Denver Metro Area, an average of 24, stirs some questions. Perhaps the distance from Downtown deters people from automatically looking to Longmont. Or perhaps purchasers want newer homes than the ones listed here. Either way, this could help homebuyers in negotiating sale prices.
As we’ve seen all year, 2020 has made the Denver real estate market hold to 3 simple truths: low inventory, rising prices, more sales. It’s a competitive market, so finding the perfect home is slightly more difficult, but with patience and determination you can find what you’re looking for.
Are you ready to find your dream home? Get in touch with The Wise Team today and we’ll start house hunting with you.
