A hint of slowing housing prices? More homes on the market for the first time in years

It has been getting harder and harder to buy a house in Denver, with the supply of homes for sale decreasing from early 2014 through the middle of this year.

That trend, however, has finally taken a break. There were more homes for sale in the third quarter of 2016 than there were a year earlier, according to Trulia. It’s the first time that has happened in 2.5 years.

In all, Denver has about 3 percent more inventory on the market than it did a year ago.

That’s not nearly as much as places like Miami have gained (33 percent, for example), but it’s a sign that builders are at least temporarily catching up with demand. In fact, builders in the Denver market have started 35 percent more homes in 2016 to-date than in the same period last year, according to MetroStudy.

With supply expanding and demand growth slowing, analysts this summer started talking about the idea that home prices here would level off at a “high plateau,” in the next couple years, as Aldo Svaldi reported in July for the Denver Post.

Still, I wouldn’t expect a bargain anytime soon. Housing prices were up 9 percent over last year as of June.