via The Denver Gazette

By Bernadette Berdychowski | Published on February 7, 2024

With the start of the year, the Denver housing market shows hopeful trends ahead of the spring selling season.

The number of homes on the market spiked last month in the 11-county Denver area, according to the Denver Metro Association of Realtors’ January Market Trends report.

The number of homes on the market typically dips during the end of the year and starts to rebound in January ahead of peak spring season. This year, the housing market is showing signs of more optimism as sellers listed more homes than at the same time last year.

New listings grew 14.7% year-over-year, the report said, from 2,859 to 3,280 last month. It was a whopping 89% increase month-over-month.

“As we kick off the new year, buyers appear to be wearing rose-colored glasses, ready to put themselves back in the real estate market as they finally have more choices,” DMAR Market Trends Committee Chair Libby Levinson-Katz said in the report.

The average home sold for $660,000, according to January numbers, up more than 5% year-over-year. Pending sales are up 6.5%

The number of days homes were on the market ticked up from the previous month. The average home was listed for 49 days, the report said, up from 46 days in December.

“The spring selling season will likely be strong this year due to pent-up demand and more favorable lending terms,” Levinson-Katz said in a news release.

Homes are closing closer to listing price compared to last year, according to the report. Homes sold for 98.5% of the listed price last month.

The Federal Reserve kept interest rates steady in their last meeting and Fed chairman Jerome Powell told ‘60 Minutes’ in an episode aired on Sunday that the central bank is considering cutting rates this year if they have more proof inflation is improving.

While many buyers may be waiting for rates to drop, Levinson-Katz said, they are at risk of facing a more competitive market again and paying more long term from bidding wars.

Real estate agent Nicolette Cusick at Glendale-based Guide Real Estate said if rates drop “the floodgates are going to open.” So homebuyers have more power now to negotiate with sellers ahead of the spring season and potential rate cuts.

Cusick helped close a nearly $1 million sale in the Highlands that locked in a 2% lower mortgage rate in the first year and 1% lower in the second year for the buyer.

“You can only do that if you don’t have a multiple-offer situation,” Cusick said.

Single-family homes drove the rise in residences listed on the market, the DMAR report showed. New detached listings were up nearly 18% while townhome and condo listings grew 7.8%

But the number of homes available in the Denver market is still “relatively low,” said Andrew Abrams, team lead at real estate agency Abrams Momentum Group and former chair of the DMAR Market Trends Committee. But it’s improving from 2022.

“Whenever you have a floor or a bottom,” Abrams said, “the only way is up.”

The market now is more balanced for both buyers and sellers than it was during the pandemic flurry of home sales, Abrams said, and gives buyers more time to decide.

“It’s a good sign for how a real estate market should act,” Abrams said.