Once upon a time, back in 2011, 65 percent of Denver metro homes cost less than $400,000, according to the Denver Metro Association of Realtors.
Last month, only 26 percent of homes cost less than $400,000, DMAR found in their July market trends report. That said, there are several indications that the Denver housing market isn't as frenetic as it once was.
Sure, so far this year, the median sold price has risen 7.79 percent compared to last year. But that's the first time in 2017 that the increase has been below 8 percent, according to DMAR.
"Numbers like this give hope to buyers that our extreme seller's market may be showing some early signs of easing," said Steve Danyliw, chairman of the DMAR Market Trends Committee, in the report.
And though inventory is still low, last month, there were almost 20 percent more active house listings compared to the previous month. There were even fewer home sales sales compared to the previous month. Since those are both month to month figures, it's not the same as a full-fledged cooldown, but it is an indication that buyers aren't tripping over each other to buy up every little bit of available stock.
Also, Denver is no longer one of the top three markets for home price increases in the Case-Shiller home price index.
But this is kind of one of those good-news-bad-news situations where I elected to give you the good news first. (Feel free to email me or tweet me if you feel strongly about getting the bad news first, digital journalism hasn't advanced to a point where you can choose for yourself.)
Median sale prices for all residential homes, both single-family detached and condos have risen compared to this time last year.
I think that means it's fair to say that $400,000-level prices are still becoming normal for single-family homes. That's bad news for people who are trying to save up for a down payment.
