Denver Metro Real Estate Continues All-Time Records as Demand for Home in COVID-19 Increases

With months of inventory dropping to an even more historic low, the most coveted gift this holiday season is a new home.

In November, the Greater Denver Metro housing market continued to boost all-time records, with median days in MLS for detached single-family homes at a very speedy five days, representing a tie of the lowest number on record, having seen five days only five times ever before.  

Active listings for both attached and detached single-family homes came in at 3,415, surpassing the previous low set in December 2017 of 3,854. There was additionally a record-high for November average close price for combined single-family detached and attached properties, and detached single-family homes at $549,756 and $615,766 respectively. The previous record for combined single-family detached and attached properties was in 2019 at $486,012. 

While the holiday months do generally see a decline in inventory, months of inventory this particular November hit another record-low at just .71, easily beating October 2020’s former lowest record at .81. For the single-family detached market, Denver only had 1,755 houses currently available for sale, representing just .51 months of inventory. This means, in theory, if no houses were put on the market for two weeks, there would be nothing left to sell.

Denver Among Top 5 Markets in US Doing Better Now Than Before the Pandemic

There's no point in sugarcoating it: The U.S. economy is a hot mess. The continuing coronavirus pandemic has led to scores of business closures, the worst unemployment since the Great Depression, and the steepest economic contraction on record. 

Yet, despite it all, the U.S. housing market has come back—and then some. After monthslong pauses in many parts of the country, bidding wars and offers over asking price have returned. Cooped-up buyers seeking larger homes and wanting to cash in on record-low mortgage interest rates are battling it out over a very limited supply of properties for sale. Median list prices are up more than 9% over last year, a result of the lack of homes on the market, according to weekly realtor.com® data. (The median home price nationally rose to an all-time high of $349,000 in July.)

“Housing tends to be immune from economic downturns and slowdowns," says realtor.com Director of Economic Research Javier Vivas. That's excluding the past recession, which was caused by a housing bubble. “Right now we’re seeing markets recover faster where they’re able to contain the virus better. Markets with strong technology sectors have been more resilient.” 

So where are these comeback kids—the housing markets rebounding the most since the start of the COVID-19 crisis? 

Realtor.com found that more than half of the largest metropolitan areas have recovered from their pandemic lows.

A score of 100% means the market is performing the same as it was in January. Anything higher shows how much better it's doing. (The list was narrowed to just two metropolitan areas per state to ensure geographic diversity.)

These are the markets that have recovered the most since the beginning of the COVID-19 crisis:

1. Boston, MA, 122.52%
2. Seattle, WA, 113.73%
3. New York, NY, 112.74%
4. Philadelphia, PA, 112.35%
5. Denver, CO, 111.66%
6. San Francisco, CA, 109.27%
7. Los Angeles, CA, 108.78%
8. Las Vegas, NV, 107.710%
9. Rochester, NY, 106.61%
10. Memphis, TN, 105.9%

-Realtor.com

June 2020: Most Pendings in Denver HISTORY (!?)

Metro Denver hit an all-time record in June: highest number of homes that went under-contract EVER, with 7,676 homes/townhomes/condos that went pending in June. That is 27% more than June 2019, and the most in any month in Denver HISTORY! I'm seeing this first-hand as I've been in constant bid-wars for buyers and receiving multiple competing offers for sellers, all $15,000 to $30,000 over asking-price! It's a ruthless shark-frenzy out there, but fortunately I've been able to make my buyers the winning offer, and get my sellers extremely high offers and excellent terms for their homes. One of my listings had 12 extremely strong offers in less than 30 hours! This is actually not a seller's market: it is a hyper-seller's market. 

What is causing this HUGE demand for housing
in an unstable economy?

I think one of the main reasons for this huge demand in housing is the experience of the quarantine. Families and roommates are much more aware of the need for the security of a home during things like a global pandemic, and the necessity and functionality of different spaces in a post-COVID world: spaces where kids can play or do school work, offices where adults can actually work in peace (which aren't the master bedroom...or bathroom lol!), basements which can provide a whole other recreational flex space, backyards to be able to get out of the house, garden, and enjoy sunsets and cooler evenings. The psychology of a home and our understanding of it is returning back to its original value and essentiality: it is so much more than a place to store your stuff and sleep, or be "tiny": it is your safe place where much of life actually happens.

A few other interesting stats:

• There were 57% more closings in June than May (COVID-induced lull for May)
• There is half a month of inventory from $200k to $500k which is about as scarce as it gets in real estate. There is 1 month of inventory from $500k to $750,000.  $750k-$1MM has 2 months of inventory (still a hot seller's market), and $1MM+ has 4.3 months of inventory, which actually represents a "balanced market."
• The averaged closed price was 2% higher than June 2019 at $509,736
• The average number of active listings from 1985 to 2019 was 16,376. There were 6,383 active listings at the end of June.
• 2,427 homes went pending in the last 7 days. There are currently 8,237 homes under contract. June's all-time record may be broken by July. 
• There are only 5,573 active homes for sale right now.
• Interest rates are at 3.125% today for a 30-year loan! 

Who is this market good for: renters to get in at lowest interest rates in history, and sellers to upgrade from small home to bigger home, realize serious equity, and have a similar monthly payment on the bigger home because of their equity and low interest rates.