via The Denver Post

By Sara B. Hansen | Published on April 5, 2024

The spring real estate market in metro Denver shows signs of growth as new and active listings increase. Buyers are snapping up properties faster and paying more than a year ago.

The median days on the market have decreased significantly, indicating high buyer demand. Pending sales have also increased, but closed sales dropped, likely due to transactions made in February before the current surge in activity.

March new listings increased 16 percent month-over-month from 4,242 to 4,932 properties. That’s a 3 percent dip from the 5,099 new listings a year ago.

“As we head into the warmer months, sellers have resigned themselves to the elevated interest rates and have begun to take the golden handcuffs off,” Libby Levinson-Katz, chair of the Denver Metro Association of Realtors Market Trends Committee in the association’s monthly report.

The report includes data for Adams, Arapahoe, Boulder, Broomfield, Clear Creek, Denver, Douglas, Elbert, Gilpin, Jefferson, and Park counties.

“In many cases, these sellers have chosen to downsize. The goal for these sellers is to sell their home and use the equity in their home to either purchase the next with their current equity or to obtain a significantly smaller loan. Regardless of their plans, buyers are very happy to see additional inventory.”

Active listings also increased by 6 percent from 5,511 in February to 5,849 in March. Year-over-year active listings climbed nearly 30 percent from 5,516 last April. But inventory remains low. The average number of active listings for March from 1985-2023 is 13,376. March 2006 recorded a record high of 27,309 listings, while the record low was 1,921 in 2021.

The median close price rose 3 percent from $575,000 in February to $595,000 in March, up nearly 5 percent from last year’s $567,250.

The median days listed fell 52 percent from 23 days in February to 11 days in March. However, the median days listed are up slightly from last year’s 10 days on the market.

“Whether it’s competition in sports or the real estate market, expect things to heat up heading into summer,” said Andrew Abrams, trends committee member and a Denver realtor.

“March represented an early uptick as we saw a close-price-to-list price ratio of 99.09 percent and median days in the MLS decreased 54.17 percent month-over-month. We will continue to see increased inventory, increased buyer demand and the potential for competition. While interest rates will pace the market, the seasonality will undoubtedly have a big impact.”

Pending sales increased 32 percent from 3,272 to 4,317 properties, a 7.47 percent gain year over year from last March’s 4,017. Closed sales increased 13 percent from 3,097 to 3,512, but that number dropped 13 percent from the 4,054 closed sales in March 2023. The association said most closed transactions in March were likely written in February.