There were nearly 13,600 homes for sale in the 11-county metro area at the end of May. That’s the highest number since 2011, a sign that home buyers are hesitant to take what the market is offering.
The mismatch between supply and demand means the Denver market looks very different than in recent years. More people are selling homes than buying them. Just about 4,000 sales were closed in May, even as nearly 7,300 new homes hit the market, according to the Denver Metro Association of Realtors.
It’s still possible to sell a home in Denver, especially for the right price and location. In fact, if a home does sell, it typically takes only a couple weeks.
- Want to share your home buying or selling story? Drop a line.
But that statistic excludes the homes that aren’t selling. Many properties are going unsold for months. The average unsold home has been sitting on the market for 45 days.
The number of people selling their homes isn’t abnormally high, appearing fairly consistent with recent years. But the number of buyers has dropped off significantly from the 2010s and pandemic years. Many are hesitant to pay high prices at high interest rates
Despite the lack of buyers, the median price for single-family homes rose by about $5,000 to $665,000. The prices of townhomes and condos also increased.
Those who do buy are looking for the strongest offerings at the best prices. They are increasingly likely to back out of a deal over inspection issues, according to DMAR — unlike a few years ago, when some buyers agreed to skip inspections altogether.
However, there is a sign of a little movement in the market. Until now, it looked like the spring sales season had peaked early, with the number of completed sales dropping instead of growing from March through May.
But the number of pending sales — those that are in progress but not yet completed — ticked up at the end of May.
