After a long drought of homes for sale in the Denver-metro area, June showered buyers with cool relief as inventory rose 50% over the month before.
“For the first time in what feels like a long time,” noted Andrew Abrams, chair of the Denver Metro Association of Realtors (DMAR) Market Trends Committee, “buyers have…less competition, and therefore, the extreme bidding wars have drastically decreased.”
According to the DMAR monthly report, there were 3,122 single-family homes on the market in June, compared to 2,075 in May. While that’s a promising increase, it’s still 51% less than June of 2020. And the average number of active listings for June is more than five times that amount, at 16,098.
Additionally, homes still flew off the market, selling 9% faster in June than May, in an average of 10 days.
In other words, while the rise in inventory is more than welcome, sellers are still well in control.
“The ‘cold front’ that news outlets claim is hitting Denver real estate is nothing more than the cycle of inventory we have seen this time of year for the past decade,” noted the DMAR report. “We consistently see our inventory low in February and then climb steadily until we hit August and September when inventory starts to decline again…”
“Some segments of the market are cooling—but only slightly. Some homes are not getting multiple offers in the first weekend; however, the buyers making offers are still going in strong, but they may not have to waive inspection or offer appraisal gaps.”
The June numbers partly reflect “buyer fatigue, holiday travels and an overall decrease in buyer demand,” noted Abrams. Wells Fargo senior economist Mark Vitner also told Fox31 News that that recovery from the pandemic might be playing a role. As more employers ask workers to head back to the office, an employee’s ability to work remotely or from a second home in the mountains may dwindle, along with demand for new homes.
“With folks now thinking about going back to work, we aren’t seeing a rising number of people moving from the West Coast,” said Vitner.
“While buyers may be feeling exhausted, the opportunity to get a house under contract at list price is starting to become more realistic,” said Abrams in the DMAR report. “In a year of coloring outside of the box, we may have just started to draw within the lines.”