via The Denver Gazette

By Dennis Huspeni | Published on June 4, 2023

While May provided some bright spots for metro Denver’s home sales market — namely more new listings than April for buyers to choose from — the market still “feels off,” according to the Market Trends Report released by the Denver Metro Association of Realtors Saturday.

That’s likely due to the 30% drop in sales volume year-over-year, from $4.18 billion in May 2022 to $2.91 billion last month.

But new listings climbed to 5,180 in May, an 8.9% increase from April. That's still down 23.9% from the same month last year when the extreme seller’s market was finally starting to wind down.

"For perspective, throughout the previous 10 years, inventory this time of year tends to be in the mid-7,000s, with the height in May of 2019 of 8,796," according to the report.

“Spring felt like a failure to launch, which has led to a summer kick-off where the natural rhythm of the Denver real estate market simply feels off,” said DMAR Chair and Realtor Libby Levinson-Katz, in a news release. “Due to the lack of inventory, buyers are experiencing a bit of fatigue as they wait for either the perfect home or to uncover a good deal.”

Another bright spot in the report included the “active listings at month’s end” category, which stood at 5,228 in May, 13.2% higher than April and 43.2% higher than May 2022 "showcasing a slower absorption of listings on the market."

Buyers closed on 4,167 homes — both single family and condominiums — which is down 28.7% from last year but up 6.7% from April. The average sales price climbed 2.7% month-over-month to $697,534, while the median sales price also climbed 2.6% from April to $595,000. Both were down slightly from 2022’s prices, 2.3% and 3.3% respectively.

“Considering the economic turmoil experienced since May of 2022 with record-breaking interest rate increases, bank failures, high inflation, the crash of the crypto market and debt ceiling drama, this slowdown is understandable,” said Colleen Covell, Trends Committee member and realtor, in the release. “In uncertain economic times, it’s natural for people to pump the breaks on spending, pause and wait for the economy to steady itself, but the month-to-month comparison suggests that perhaps $1+ million buyers and sellers are starting to dip their toes back into the market.”

That above $1 million market saw the largest increase in inventory of any segment with 785 new listings in May, up 19.3% from April. Pending sales also climbed 6.93% month-over-month, closed sales at 12.84% and sales volume at 13.2%, according to the report.

For the overall market, the average time it took to sell a home dropped to 22 days in May from April’s average of 28 days. In May 2022, homes were selling in the still-hot market in just 9 days. The “closed-price-to-list-price” ratio continues to fall: 100.5% in May compared to 105.3% last year.

“When finding the right house, buyers are moving a bit more slowly,” Levinson-Katz said. “Conversely, sellers are more realistic and strategize more with price reductions. While many lenders still predict that interest rates will go down at the end of the year, we can only hope that we have an extended spring/summer season come fall.”

The Market Trends Report covers the 11-county metro Denver area, including Adams, Arapahoe, Boulder, Broomfield, Clear Creek, Denver, Douglas, Elbert, Gilpin, Jefferson and Park counties.