Despite an 18 percent increase in one month, the Denver housing market in September still boasted the “youngest” inventory of listed homes in 146 metropolitan statistical areas tracked by Realtor.com.
In September, the median-age of Denver’s housing inventory was 46 days, up from 39 days in August. The median-age of inventory is seen by some observers as a proxy for how fast homes are selling.
Denver homebuilder Stephen Holben isn’t surprised by the report.
“Denver is one of the most desirable cities in the country, housing inventory is at an all time seasonal low, interest rates are at an all time low, people are moving to Denver, and the economy is showing sings of growth,” said Holben, owner of Holben Homes. “These all represent the best opportunity to buy a home at any time in history. People who are seeing the current economic circumstances as temporary – and are functioning – are getting some terrific, never to be seen again deals on homes, and will be rewarded when the economy turns around – as it always does.”
Trending the right way
Denver tied with Oakland as having the lowest median age in the country in April, and has been No. 1 ever since.
Independent Gary Bauer said that the string of consecutive months where Denver had the lowest median-aged inventory could be seen as a trend.
“While the Denver market does face tremendous pressures from local, regional and national forces, we, in our own right, shine,” Bauer said. “We do not stand up and puff up our chests to say we are No. 1. We simply continue to do the best job we can for our clients and consumers. It is good to see that we are recognized as such. I hope this is a trend that continues.”
At least one local broker has wondered if Denver has an unfair advantage to other Multiple Listing Services across the country that may not have a “pending” category. The reasoning goes that in other markets, short-sale candidates without a pending category could be listed in the unsold inventory as active, and because it takes them longer to sell on average, in turn those distressed properties could drive up the median age of the homes in their inventory.
Bauer doesn’t think that is an issue.
“Just about every major MLS in the country has something equivalent to a pending status,” Bauer said. “From the little research I have done on this, I don’t think the pending status would have much impact, if any, on how Denver compares to other markets.
Because Realtor.com analyzes each market using the same methodology, it does provide a fair ranking, he said.
Nationwide, the median age of inventory for listings was 107 days in September, a 3.9 percent increase from the 103 days in August, and unchanged from a year earlier.
The median age of inventory exceeded 120 days in 28 markets. In previous months, most of these markets had been in resort areas such as Florida or the Carolinas. However, September ushered in additional MSAs in which the median age of the inventory exceeded 120 in markets in such as:
- Reading, PA (147 days)
- Santa Fe, (136 days),
- Mobile, (129)
- Knoxville, (126 days)
- Chicago (120 days)
The median age of inventory is not the same as the more common metric of average days on market.
Realtor.com calculates the median days on market by subtracting the listed date from the earlier of their end listing date or the end of the time period, taking the median of all the resulting individual days on the site. This accounts for properties that were withdrawn from a MLS and subsequently re-listed. Because median-age of inventory is based on the days displayed on Realtor.com, it may differ form days on market calculated by the local MLS where the listing is posted. However, it does provide a national comparison using the same methodology for the entire country.
Denver’s list price higher than nation’s
Realtor.com also reported that the median list price in Denver in September was $254,338, compared with the national median price of $190,000.
Denver’s median asking price was down 1.38 percent from September 2010, but up 1.74 percent from August.
Nationally, the median price was up 1.6 percent on a year-over-year basis and up 0.05 percent from August.
The apparent year-over-year stability in median list prices masks the marked decline that began in August 2010 — when the impact of the homeowner tax credit effectively came to an end — and continued through the end of February 2011, according to Realtor.com
While the national median list price rebounded in March and April of 2011, effectively erasing previous declines, it has remained essentially unchanged for the past six months.
The continued stability in the national median list price through the end of the 2011 buying season stands in stark contrast to patterns observed in 2010, when the expiration of the tax credit was accompanied by a precipitous decline in the national median list, the organization noted.
Realtor.com is the most searched real estate website in the nation. It displays more than four million “for sale” and “for rent” property listings fed directly into its site for free by more than 933 MLSs across the country. Denver was the nations’s 22nd most searched area on Realtor.com in September.
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
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