via 9News

By Cole Sullivan | Published on July 15, 2023

Homes in the Denver area have gotten so expensive, the metro's realtor association has stopped analyzing the sales of houses under half a million dollars.

A previous report from May showed fewer than 500 homes sold in that price point.

"If you find anything less than $500,000, you're going to have multiple offers many times over, said Milford Adams, a realtor and the past president of the Denver Metro Association of Realtors (DMAR). "Those are what we call 'pain point' because you can’t find them. And if you find something that’s really a deal, there’s going to be a lot of offers on that property."

Inventory of homes remains low, driving prices up so sellers can't afford a new place, he said.

"That's the struggle, because a lot of sellers aren't going to put their house on the market because where are they going to go? That's their question," Adams said.

He said making deals for homes under $500,000 sometimes requires a scheme, like the one he pulled Mother's Day weekend. "I knew a lot of families were celebrating their mothers that day. And that's fine and that's awesome, but it was a window for us to get out there," he said.

Adams said beating the brunch crowd got his client's offer accepted at $400,000 -- causing them to celebrate with cheers at the title office.

"That tells us that we in the Denver metro area have a lot of work to do to provide home ownership for everyone that wants a home," Adams said. He said building more new homes will help fix the problem. But DMAR said higher interest rates are making mortgages more and more expensive; housing payments hit a new high last month.