Northwest Denver Market Statistics – May 2011

Have we passed the bottom in NW Denver?

While the national media outlets continue to forecast a double dip in real estate prices nationwide, we’ve been seeing quite a different story on the ground here in Denver. Take a look at the May 2011 Sales statistics courtesy of Land Title linked below:

May 2011 – DNW Stats – Land Title

A quick review for those interested and some thoughts (stats are for residential homes including single family, duplex, and triplex hoems without HOA’s):

# of Closed Sales – Month: 124

Same as May 2010, 124 Sales were closed in the month of May. This is one of the strongest indicators as to where we’re at currently. Especially given the tax credit driven buying frenzy of 2010, this is somewhat of a surprise, albeit a positive one.

# of Closed Sales – YTD: 441

 YTD 2010 # of Closed Sales was 430. This is an upward progression of 2.6% over last year. Again, this is impressive given the front end laoding of 2010’s sales due in large part to the tax credit.

Avg. Days on Market: 98

Average DOM at this time last year was 55 days. We’re stuck at 98 for May 2011. Buyers are buying but they have been a bit more picky for the most part as of late. Without a stimulus (not including the ongoing interest rate environment), homes are taking 78.2% longer to sell than this time last year.

# of Active Listings: 424

A year ago we were looking at 512 active listings. This lower inventory for 2011 is to be expected. Last year there were many sellers who were listing their homes at above market prices hoping to snag a tax credit motivated buyer. This year the majority of sellers are serious about selling if they’ve put their home on the market.

# of New Listings: 172

In May of 2010 we had 282 new listings. The 172 we had new for May 2011 represents a 39% decrease in the number of new homes coming on the market. As many of our buyers can attest to, there aren’t as many homes to choose from this spring. Again, the tax credit of 2010 brought out many sellers hoping to cash in before the credit’s expiration.

Absorption Rate (months): 3.4

 May 2010’s absorption rate was 4.2 months. A 6 month supply is a balanced market. Anything under 6 month’s supply is considered a seller’s market. The lower the supply, the stronger the upward pressure on pricing. Between 3 and 6 month’s supply is about optimal for a steadily rising market.

Average Price (Sold): $284,820

The number most will focus on. We’re up 7.8% over May 2010. Understand that this is in large part due to the types of homes that are and aren’t selling. The distribution of homes selling has shifted upward, bringing the average sales price along with it. There are fewer sub $100,000 homes selling this year than last year. In summary, we’re heading in the right direction with pricing but don’t paint with too broad a brush and assume that your home’s value in Northwest Denver just rose by 7.8% in the last year.

If you’d like to see MLS sales statistics for any other area of Denver, drop me a line and I’d be happy to send along the PDF.