Sales of existing homes in the Denver area dropped 28 percent in October, to 2,842 from 3,958 in the same month of 2009, according to Metrolist Inc. data released Wednesday.
But average sold price for such homes was up 9.6 percent for the same period, to $261,750 from $238,807.
Sales of existing homes — which are homes that have sold at least once and also are called resale homes — were higher in October 2009 than last month partly because the federal government’s $8,000 first-time homebuyer tax credit still was in effect last year. The first-time buyer credit, along with a $6,000 credit for existing homeowners wanting to buy a different home added in November 2009, expired April 30 of this year.
Metrolist data includes both standard houses and condominiums. Greenwood Village-based Metrolist is metro Denver’s Multiple Listing Service for homes that are for sale.
Other existing home sale data for October:
• Standard houses alone, also called single-family detached homes, sold for $287,048 on average, up 9.66 percent from $261,771 in October 2009.
• Average days a home stayed on the market for sale rose to 104 from 93 for the same month last year.
• Inventory of existing homes for sale increased 12.75 percent to 21,360 last month from 18,945 year over year.
For this year’s first 10 months, roughly 26,200 existing houses sold for a total of $7.41 billion, according to Metrolist data released by Re/Max Alliance of Arvada. Average sold price for the period was $282,819.
The plains area of Boulder County had the highest average selling price of $650,053, followed by the city of Boulder, with $609,638.
By comparison, some 28,000 existing houses sold in 2009’s first 10 months for a total of $7.38 billion and an average of $263,328.
Nearly 7,000 existing condos sold in 2010’s first 10 months, for a total of $1.1 billion and an average of $160,186.
January through October 2009, nearly 7,500 condos sold for $1.19 billion and $160,382 on average.
Compiled by the DBJ’s Paula Moore
