In November, year to date, housing inventory has increased 46.76 percent compared to last year in the residential market (single-family and condos), but was down 11.82 percent from last month. Meanwhile, fewer homes sold in the Denver area in November, down 17.27 percent from October, and that dropped the number of sales year to date to less than any in the past three years.
Notably, the low months of housing inventory will keep homes prices strong according to Jill Schafer, Chair of the DMAR Market Trends Committee and Metro Denver REALTOR®. While the average sold price of $462,344 was down 6.3 percent from the peak price mid-year, it is up 6.47 percent year over year.
"When we looked a little closer, we saw the average sold price was up 8.68 percent year to date compared to 2017," said Schafer. "Furthermore, single-family homes priced under $1 million had three months or less of inventory, showing sellers still had control in the bulk of the market. Anything under five months is considered a seller's market and over six months is a buyer's market."
While the downward shift in the market that started mid-year continued in November, Schafer comments, "The increase in home choices could make it possible for more homebuyers to get what they wish for this Christmas. Meanwhile, the low months of inventory will keep prices strong and sellers should continue to have plenty of money to do their holiday shopping, too."
Looking deeper into the numbers, for the entire residential market, November ended with 7,530 active homes on the market, down 11.82 percent from the prior month and up 46.76 percent year over year. At month's end, there were 3,964 homes under contract, down 10.6 percent from the prior month and 3.03 percent year over year. The number of homes sold dropped to 3,732, down 17.27 percent from October and 23.6 percent year over year. Sales volume also dropped by 18.6 percent month over month and year over year to $1.73 billion.