Active Listings: 8,303
* Down 39% from March '11
Under Contract: 4,328
* Up 50% from March '11
Sold: 2,775
* Up 10% from March '11
Average Days on Market : 105
* Down 10% from March '11
Average Price: $284,035
* Up 4% from March '11
Denver Metro Condo Housing Stats:
Active Listings: 2,022
* Down 50% from March '11
Under Contracts: 1,000
* Up 46% from March '11
Sold: 700
* Up 3% from March '11
Average Days on Market: 97
* Down 22% from March '11
Average Price: $161,848
* Up 1% from March '11
Absorption Rate is used to determine how many months it will take to existing inventory of homes to sell. If it takes 0-5 months to sell, it is a Seller’s Market, 5-6 months is a Balanced Market, 6+ months is a Buyer’s Market.
The Absorption rate for Denver Metro area over current 3 months was 2.9 whereas, in prior months it was 5.3 which indicates that we are now in a Seller’s Market for the upcoming season.
Real Estate News
The Business Cycle Dating Committee of the National Bureau of Economic Research met in June 2009 and determined that the recession that began in December 2007 was officially over. Of course, that was a cruel joke to most Americans who were still suffering through the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression.
However, three years later there are unmistakable signs of improvement in our economy. This has stirred the great awakening in the housing market because housing is inextricably linked not only to the economy, but to the perception of what the economy will do in the future. There are many measures for this perception but the best is probably the Consumer Confidence Index (CCI). This index polls thousands of Americans each month and asks them how confident they are in the economy. Between 2007 and 2008 it plummeted to a level not seen since the 1970s. The level crawled along the bottom for four long years until last year when it started rising. As more good news began trickling out of the U.S. economy the CCI has grown at a slow but steady pace for the past 12 months.
What is causing us to come out of our shells and believe our economic future might hold some promise?
- U.S. unemployment is down to 8.3%, its lowest level in years. The past six months have been the best streak for employment since 2006. Colorado’s unemployment rate is down to 7.8%.
- The stock market is at its highest level since before the recession began, doubling in the past three years.
- The Fed has all but nixed the idea of QE3, meaning it believes the economy is on its way to recovery and won’t require another massive stimulus fund.
- The 4th quarter, 2011 GDP grew by 3%.
- Home foreclosure sales have dropped to a five-year low.
- According to the Case-Schiller Index the Denver real estate market is the 2nd best in the country.
Many would-be home buyers waited for years for signs of a stabilizing economy before jumping back into the housing market. The green shoots of progress have been growing steadily for the past year which has resulted in buyers jumping back into the housing market and creating our super red-hot housing market. Take a look at the bold figures in our Quick Stats. The number of homes under contract is up 50% in the past year!
So, if you’ve been waiting on the sidelines for the past few years wondering when it will be a good time to buy again, you might want to start thinking about it. Our economy is improving, inventory of homes is at record low, interest rates are still low (but rising), and home prices have begun rising again. Give me a call and I’d be happy to share all this data with you.
