Housing Market Warms in Metro Denver During February

A winter housing market has heated up in greater Denver, with a jump in home listings and sales.

New listings rose 29.1 percent in February to 4,243 from the previous month, an increase of 22.6 percent from a year earlier, the Denver Post reported, citing figures from the Denver Metro Association of Realtors. At the same time, closings were up 31.2 percent to 2,864, but were down 0.45 percent year-over-year.

The shift marks a turnaround from January, when the Mile High City had nearly 21 percent fewer home deals than last year, with transaction value down 12 percent. It was the slowest January since 2011.

At the end of last month, there were 5,511 homes and condos available for sale, 13.1 percent more than in January and 45.9 percent more than in February of last year.

The median sales price for a single-family home across metropolitan Denver last month was $633,000, 1.28 percent more than January’s typical price of $625,000 and 5.5 percent higher than a year earlier.

Condo and townhome sales prices rose 4.13 percent month-over-month and 1.23 percent year-over-year to $410,000, according to the association report

“All in all, the spring season is heating up,” Libby Levinson-Katz, chairwoman of the DMAR Market Trends Committee and a metro Denver Realtor, in comments accompanying the report. “Prepared sellers can curb a second round of negotiations with buyers at inspection while strategic buyers know what they want before shopping and the options available to them.”

The time homes spent on the market before a sale dropped to 23 days in February, from 36 days a month earlier.

Difficulties around inspections have been on the rise over the last few months as buyers are pushing back more on problems, Levinson-Katz said.

“If buyers feel they are paying top dollar due to increasing mortgage rates, they want their new home to be in move-in-ready condition,” she said.

A rising cost of home insurance nationwide has also become an issue in metro Denver — with some deals collapsing because buyers couldn’t get coverage or policies at a reasonable price.

Higher insurance costs are boosting homeowners association fees, which appear to be moving more owners of attached condominiums or townhomes to seek for an exit, according to the Realtor association. There were 1,000 condos priced below $500,000 at the end of February.

Higher mortgage rates will likely pressure sales into summer, according to the Post.

Last month, the average rate on a 30-year loan rose to 7.13 percent, from 6.67 percent, contributing to a 17 percent drop in applications for mortgages. Pending sales rose 12.7 percent last month, compared to a 42.6 percent monthly increase in January.

— Dana Bartholomew