Northwest Denver Market Statistics for January 2009

We’re back for a look at the Northwest Denver sales statistics for the month of January 2009. Contrary to what you might be expecting it isn’t all bad news. 

Some general info regarding our statistics: all data is courtesy of Metrolist, Incorporated. Metrolist does not guarantee nor is in any way responsible for its accuracy. Aside from the disclaimer, we are looking at residential statistics for the DNW (Denver North West) market area within Metrolist’s system. Residential properties can be detached single family residences, duplexes, or triplexes. Anything with more than three units or a HOA (home owners association) isn’t going to be captured here. We’ve put together a list of the actual sold properties for your reference as well.

Average Net Sales Price

As you can see below, we are continuing our upward trend in average net sales price for Northwest Denver. While this is good news I wouldn’t say that this graph is representative of an actual upward shift in property values across the neighborhood so much as it represents a shift in what segments of our inventory are selling. As we’ve documented previously, the dip in average net sales price in the area last fall was due to a high number of sub $100,000 homes being sold. This month’s sales stats have been influenced by a lack of low end sales combined with a number of high end sales. When you have about 40 homes per month selling the numbers can shift easily. With an average sales price of $275,000 or so a few sales over $750,000 will move things along. In the end I still think we are on the right track. The most significant trend I see is that we are back above the mark we set last August. While we typically have a dip in the fall/early winter, we have recovered from it more quickly than usual. This is quite impressive when the current circumstances are taken into consideration.

 Number of Properties Sold

While sales prices may be climbing the number of homes selling is dropping.  I think what we’re dealing with here is a crisis in consumer confidence. Unless there is some sort of sign that things are going to be turning around again in the economy I would expect many buyers to sit on the fence for a while longer. The $8,000 first time buyer credit in the new stimulus bill may help a bit as Northwest Denver is popular with the entry level buyer due to the combination of favorable prices, commercial attractions, and proximity to both the downtown area as well as the foothills. Only time will tell.

Distribution of Properties Sold by Price Range 

Here’s the visual proof regarding our shift in the segments of our inventory that sold in January. While the leading segment of the market in volume continues to be the $100k-$200k price range the upper end of our market is seeing some significant sales activity for the first time in a few months. Most notable is the $500k+ segment of our market. While 4 sales is still only a hand full, it seems as though there are still buyers to be had in the high end.

 Average Days on Market

In a reoccurring theme for this particular data set, I’m going to say that we’re still unable to get anything of value out of the average days on market data for January 2009.  As you can see below the numbers have been all over the place for the past 5 months or so. We will continue to watch DOM as maybe a trend will develop in the coming months.