The summer residential real estate slowdown is here.
It’s expected every year within home sales markets across the metro Denver area — but this year has been fairly unpredictable, according to the Denver Metro Association of Realtors most recent Market Trends report covering July sales.
Most homes sold for $600,000 or above in July, the association’s monthly market trends report said. The median sales price is down $1,000 from June and up nearly 1.7% year-over-year.
The surge of new listings is slowing down with 5,150 homes put on the market in July, down nearly 12% month-over-month. The number of active listings in the 11-county metro Denver region is at a decade high with more than 10,000 homes on the market at the end of July, nearly 4,000 listings higher than the same time last year.
Despite the bump in available houses, the number of closed sales was down 5% from July 2023.
Whether the Denver area is shifting into a buyer’s market depends on the house and the ZIP code, said Libby Levinson-Katz, chair of DMAR’s Market Trends committee, in the report.
“This is hard to define as the pandemic turned some of our steadfast rules of what constitutes a seller’s market versus a buyer’s market on their head,” Levinson-Katz said.
Overall, local real estate is stabilizing with nearly three months worth of inventory, after a hot seller’s market inflamed by the pandemic, DMAR’s report said.
But some pockets of the market are in a buyer’s market because of the accumulation of listings, according to the report.
“As the summer selling season winds down throughout August, the change in our marketplace may be the perfect timing as we find ourselves transacting business in a new way,” Levinson-Katz said.
In the luxury market — homes worth more than $1 million — most indicators are “sluggish and struggling,” said Colleen Covell, Market Trends committee member, in the report.
New listings for million-dollar homes fell 24% from June and closed sales fell 11%.
Sellers for homes worth more than $1.5 million are having the “toughest buyer’s market in years,” Covell said.
She added it’s good news for buyers who have more choice and less competition, creating a window of opportunity before a flux of buyers show up if the Federal Reserve drops interest rates.
“With many sellers offering concessions to help with rate buy-downs or closing costs, buyers can find great deals, even with higher interest rates,” Covell said.
