January Real Estate Sales Statistics

Watching home sales in Denver is a favorite past time for many. Our market is not as wonderful as we would like, but quite frankly it is not doing as bad as many others around the country.

January saw a decline in the average sale price of home in the Denver Metro market. There are reasons that this is occurring. One obvious reason is the change in lending practices.

Home buyers who in past were able to purchase a home with very little (if any resources) are now longer able to do so. Many Denver real estate professionals found transactions falling apart the day before closing, because of changing lending practices.

Jumbo mortgage loan availability dried up. Home buyers wanting to purchase homes with a loan of over $417,000 found themselves scrambling to find mortgages. If the buyers were unable to create resources they were unable to close on the home.

As this combined with a high number of foreclosures in many neighborhoods has taken it’s toll on the market.

Funny with that said, we are now seeing many homes that have been languishing on the market reel in multiple offers. Odd how that works.

Homes in Denver are selling. Rather let me say this, NICE homes are selling. Yes, the competition to sell is tough, but with proper pricing, packaging (read staging) and a good marketing strategy homeowners are finding success in selling.

The Denver Market Update for January 2008 is posted here.

Larry McGee of The Berkshire Group is quoted in the Denver Post here.

Larry D. McGee the managing broker of The Berkshire Group is also quoted in the Rocky Mountain news here.