For the fourth consecutive month, Denver metro home prices reached a record high level. The latest data (for August) shows the greatest year over year monthly increase since the housing bubble burst. This is great news for the Denver housing market, and while the future predictions show a slowdown in price increases, prices are still forecast to rise.
From The Denver Business Journal:
Denver’s Case-Shiller price index for August was 146.95, meaning that local home resale prices averaged 46.95 percent higher than they were in the benchmark month of January 2000.
The Mile High City’s price index has been breaking records each month since May. The previous high was 140.28, set in August 2006.
Denver so far this year has seen year-over-year price gains of 9 percent or more every month through August, according to the monthly real estate report series. (See the table at the end of this article for price trends back to 2010.)
In even better news for our market, Denver was one of only two major cities to surpass their pre-recession high price levels (Dallas was the other).
As we begin to head into the holiday, it will be interesting to see what happens to the market inventory and demand. Typically, this time of year demand tends to slow, so now may be the best time in months if you are looking to purchase a home.
Again, numbers are very area specific, so give us a call and we can run numbers for your specific area of interest.
Finally, Denver foreclosures and Denver short sales tend to slow down in November and December. Banks tend to show more empathy during the holidays. Because of this, if you are looking at foreclosures / short sales, be prepared to see a even lower inventory level through December.