June saw a slight rise in the number of houses on the Denver market, a welcome note in a housing market that has been extremely tight over the past several months.
Not that buyers can breathe easy: The uptick was a scant 1% over May.
There were a total of 5,500 homes on the market in the Denver metro area in June, according to statistics recently released by Denver’s Metrolist. Despite the small rise, this still represents a significant — 58% — drop in the number of homes on the market from June of 2013.
Condo inventory showed no rise, dropping 6% over last month. There were 1,500 condos on the market in June, a 55% decline from June of 2013.
Prices for houses continue to be affected by the pent-up demand. The average price for a house in the Denver metro area rose 1% over last month, settling in at $383,5000. By contrast, prices for condos dropped 2% over last month, selling for an average of $226,400. These numbers represent a 10% and 14% increase over a year ago, respectively.
Metrolist’s statistics reflect a continuing trend of low inventory and high prices that is creating concern among industry observers.
“A shortage of active listings and homes available is on the minds of everyone – Realtors, home buyers, prospective sellers, loan officers, title insurance companies,” Former Metrolist Director Gary Bauer recently told Inside Real Estate News.
Bauer noted that sky-rocketing prices, while good for sellers, can be a problem if the trend continues.
“We do not want appreciation to go through the roof,” he said. “In the long run, that would adversely impact the market.”
Anand Nallathambi, president and CEO of CoreLogic, a company that tracks sales nationwide, agreed.
“Home prices are continuing to climb across most of the country which has both positive and negative implications for the housing market,” he told Inside Real Estate News. “While the rapid rise in prices over the past two years has lifted many homeowners out of negative equity, it has also become a negative factor in buying decisions for prospective purchasers weighing affordability concerns.”
Given the low inventory, houses continue to sell at a rapid pace. Houses in the Denver metro area spent an average of 27 days on the market in June; condos, an average of 24 days. This reflects a faster pace than the already fast-paced sales of May: 10% fewer days on the market for houses and 4% fewer days for condos.
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Source: http://insiderealestatenews.com/2014/07/02/denver-home-prices-up-9/