DMAR Real Estate Market Trends Report | JAN. '23

We've put together our special Year-End Report featuring a 2022 Year in Review + 2023 Outlook by former Chair of DMAR's Market Trends Committee, Steve Danyliw, as well as a 2023 Outlook in the Denver Metro Area written by Lawrence Yun, Chief Economist and Senior Vice President of Research at NAR, and Nadia Evangelou, Senior Economist and Director of Forecasting at NAR.

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The number of new homes that entered the market in December decreased from November by 35.19 percent, which is typical that the market sees a seasonal decline in new listings as sellers pulled back to focus their time and energy on the holidays. Throughout the year, inventory has gradually increased, resulting in homes staying on the market longer before going under contract, not necessarily more sellers entering the market. In December, the median days in the MLS was 30, up from 21 in November and up from five days in December 2021. Year-to-date, the total number of listings in 2022 was 60,164, down 9.30 percent from 2021 as well as in 2020, 2019 and 2018. As a result, the total number of closed properties in 2022 was 50,743, down 20.84 percent from 2021.  

The increase in interest rates and decrease in buyer demand impacted home prices. The median sale price for detached homes in December was $600,000, down 2.44 percent from November and 0.01 percent from December 2021. Attached homes also showed a month-over-month decline from $410,000 in November 2022 to $405,000 in December. Compared to December 2021, the median sold price for attached homes increased 5.74 percent. For both detached and attached homes, the peak median sale price for 2022 occurred in April, $680,000 and $440,000, respectively.  

“The post-pandemic shift back to a more normalized market will take some time,” commented Amanda Snitker, Vice Chair of the DMAR Market Trends Committee and Metro Denver Realtor®. “In March 2022, the Federal Reserve started raising the base Fed rate to slow the economy as inflation hit a 40-year high. By April, the real estate market started to show signs of slowing as buyers saw the mortgage rates increase, reducing their buying power yet there are many opportunities for buyers in this market as motivated sellers are more willing to negotiate on price and inspection items and pay down the interest rate for buyers to make the home more affordable. Although the median days in the MLS has increased, it is still a good market for sellers willing to prepare their homes and price competitively.”

Our monthly report also includes statistics and analyses in its supplemental “Luxury Market Report” (properties sold for $1 million or greater), “Signature Market Report” (properties sold between $750,000 and $999,999), “Premier Market Report” (properties sold between $500,000 and $749,999), and “Classic Market” (properties sold between $300,000 and $499,999). 

To close out the year, the Luxury Market saw a 97.61 percent close-price-to-list-price, down 2.99 percent from last year. While there was less inventory from the prior month and from one year ago, homes stayed on the market longer, giving buyers more time to shop for the home they wanted to purchase. Sellers had to be patient in December as homes took 10 days more to sell than the previous month and 19 more days than one year ago at 28 median days in MLS. This was down 55.56 percent from the prior month and 211.11 percent from one year ago.

While homes were taking a little longer to sell, sellers received 5.69 percent more for their homes from the month prior at $390 per square foot and 2.09 percent more from one year ago at $382 per square foot. While buyers took their time shopping for detached luxury homes, sellers also had time to relax because detached luxury homes took 26 median days to sell. This was up 44.44 percent from the month prior and 225 percent from one year ago. Last December, the median days in MLS was eight days. Even though homes stuck around longer in December, luxury sellers received six percent more per square foot from the month prior and 3.63 percent from one year ago. 

Buyers shopping for luxury attached homes also found good deals as attached homes were taking 28 median days to sell, up 55.56 percent from the month prior and 115.38 percent from one year ago. Luxury buyers shopping for attached homes were able to strike up a deal and buy a luxury home at 97.89 percent close-price-to-list-price. This was only down 0.12 percent from the prior month but was down 3.37 percent from one year ago. Sellers were gifted 3.79 percent more for their homes than the prior month.  While the price per square foot was up month-over-month, we only saw a 0.95 percent decrease in price per square foot from one year ago.  
“With things starting to feel more normal in the market and buyers and sellers winning on both sides, many of us are grateful for how things ended in December and we’re cheering for a fabulous new year,” said Brigette Modglin, DMAR Market Trends Committee member and Metro Denver Realtor®.

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