For the fourth consecutive month, the Denver-area housing market in July led the nation as far as the fewest number of days unsold homes have been languishing on the market, according to a report released today.
The median age of Denver housing inventory was 32 days last month, continuing a trend that began in April as the city with the lowest median aged inventory in 146 metropolitan statistical areas tracked by Realtor.com, an arm of the National Association of Realtors.
Nationally, the median age of inventory was 97 days in July, three times as much as in Denver.
Although some analysts use the median age of inventory as a proxy for how fast homes are selling, it should not be confused with the number of days on the market.
Realtor.com determines the median age of inventory by taking all of the homes listed in any given time period – in this case, a month – and then calculating their days on the Realtor.com site, the nation’s most searched site of home listings. It does that by subtracting the listed date of the homes from the earlier of their end-listing date or the end of the time period, and taking the median of all the resulting individual days on site.
This accounts for properties that were withdrawn from an MLS and subsequently re-listed. Because median age of inventory is the days a listing is displayed on Realtor.com, it may differ from days on market calculated by the local MLS. In April, the median age of inventory in Denver was 44 days, tied for first place with Oakland, Calif.
Still, it is good that Denver is at the top of a national listing, according to Denver home builder Stephen Holben.
“I think it means simply that more and more people are seeing Denver as one of the most desirable places in the world to live, and realizing that with very little new construction occurring, the prices homes are being offered at now won’t last and are making their move,” Holben said.
The Realtor.com report also found:
- In July, Denver was the 24th most searched month in the country
- Colorado Springs, No. 53.
- Boulder-Longmont, No. 110.
- Fort Collins-Loveland, No. 118
- Pueblo, No. 144.
Chicago was the most searched city in the nation in July on Realtor.com.
Realtor.com also showed the median list price for a home in Denver was $250,000 in July, a 3.8 percent decrease from July 2010 and a 2.9 percent decrease from June. Nationally, the median price of a home was $189,900, unchanged from July 2010.
Month Denver Median Age of Inventory U.S. Median Age of Inventory.
April 44 95
May 39 92
June 30 93
July 32 97
August 39 103
September 46 107
Contact John Rebchook at JRCHOOK@gmail.com
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