Typically the Denver housing market takes a cue from the cool autumn weather and we start to see a retraction ofhome prices in the latter half of the year. If seasonal norms had applied this year, we would have expected to see a 1-2% month-over-month drop in home prices, but September's numbers actually showed a .77% increase instead. Despite that unexpected bump, other numbers do indicate a slight cooling of market conditions, providinga window of opportunity for Denver buyers.
Best Time to Be a Buyer All Year
If you've been waiting for the right time to buy, this is it! The competitive extremes we saw in the first half of the year have finally chilled, days on market is trending up, and interest rates won't stay this low forever. Homes are still selling for over asking, with an average of 102% close-to-list price, but that number is down from its peak of 105% in June. Another welcome figure is the almost 11% increase in active listings at month's end, giving buyers more options to choose from than in prior months.
Mortgage News Buyers Will Love
New mortgage policies are making it easier to become a homeowner. Recently, the conforming loan limit was increased to $625,000 to keep up with rising home prices. Denver is in a special high-price market that will likely get an even higher limit (we'll keep you posted when it's announced). There's also been some changes to the approval process that will help first time home buyers and buyers with less than perfect credit. If documented properly, you can now use 12 months of rental payments as a credit compensating factor, and lenders can now use an average of the buyers' credit scores instead of the lowest score.
Micro Market Trends
Denver market trends are highly neighborhood and price-point specific. There are some neighborhoods that defy the overall trends and some areas that have more opportunities for buyers, while some have greater odds for sellers. That's why we created our interactive Denver Neighborhood Index, so you can see where those opportunities exist or just see how your neighborhood stacks up. Simply click the column header in the chart below to see the neighborhoods reorder themselves by the metric you've chosen.
*Neighborhood stats provided by REColorado on October 15, 2021.
The Denver real estate market continues to provide opportunities for both buyers and sellers. Check in next month to see if October's numbers lineup with seasonal norms or buck the trends.
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