DMAR Real Estate Market Trends Report | Nov. '25
In the Denver Metro 2025 real estate market, the gap between perception and reality remains stubbornly wide. The common narrative suggests the market is "slow" because buyers have stepped back from purchasing. The reality is more complex.
“While real estate fundamentals like inventory, pricing and demand certainly matter, broader economic forces have been equally influential in shaping market activity over the past three years,” said Amanda Snitker, Chair of the DMAR Market Trends Committee and Metro Denver Realtor®. “Inflation, economic uncertainty and recent events like the government shutdown have created a cautious environment that affects both buyer and seller decision-making. Understanding the distinction between a fundamentally broken housing market and one responding rationally to external pressures is crucial for interpreting what the data actually tells us.”
Throughout 2025, active inventory reached levels Denver hasn't seen in over a decade, giving buyers meaningful leverage. However, November brought the predictable seasonal shift. New listings declined 41.39 percent from October, nearly identical to the 41.54 percent drop between those same months in 2024. Similarly, month-end active inventory fell 15.92 percent, closely mirroring the 14.89 percent decline in 2024. These patterns reflect typical seller behavior during the holiday season: homes come off the market in November and December, often relisting after the new year. The consistency with prior-year patterns suggests the market is following normal seasonal rhythms rather than fundamental deterioration.
Pricing followed a similar seasonal trajectory. Median sale prices declined month over month for both attached homes (1.96 percent) and detached homes (1.47 percent), a typical fourth-quarter trend as demand moderates heading into winter. The year-to-date picture provides important context: attached homes are down 3.21 percent while detached homes remain essentially flat, up just 0.02 percent. These modest annual changes reflect market stabilization rather than the dramatic shifts often portrayed in headlines. This stabilization has been particularly valuable in addressing the rapid appreciation of recent years. After prices surged 38.5 percent from March 2020 through April 2022, the subsequent three years of slower growth have brought the market into better balance. From March 2020 to November 2025, the cumulative median price increase now stands at 31.5 percent, which is equivalent to an average annual increase of 6.3 percent. What initially appeared as unsustainable growth has, over time, normalized into a pace more consistent with historical appreciation patterns.
Snitker added, “As we close out 2025, expect continued seasonal patterns through December and January: reduced inventory, fewer transactions and the typical holiday slowdown. Come spring, we'll likely see the familiar uptick in listings and activity that characterizes every healthy real estate cycle. Perhaps 2025's most significant contribution to Denver's housing market wasn't dramatic, it was necessary. This was the year the market needed to recalibrate expectations and reestablish what a typical real estate market actually looks like. After years of frenzied bidding wars, waived contingencies and double-digit appreciation, 2025 reminded us that functional markets have negotiation, reasonable timelines and modest price movements. Homes that sit for 29 days aren't signs of crisis. They're signs of normalcy. Buyers who can negotiate concessions aren't exploiting weakness; they're participating in standard real estate transactions.”
For 2026, the opportunity lies in embracing this balance. Buyers and sellers who understand that "normal" doesn't mean "broken" will find success. Those waiting for extremes, whether crash or boom, will likely remain on the sidelines, while others transact in a stable, predictable market that serves both parties well.
DMAR’s monthly report also includes statistics and analyses for supplemental markets, including properties sold for $1 million or greater, properties sold between $750,000 and $999,999, and properties sold between $500,000 and $749,999.
In the $1 million+ market, buyers and sellers in this segment are doing what they've always done: transact. With no snow in November, this segment had one less distraction and stayed focused on real estate.
It’s true that this group is better insulated from mortgage rates and rising insurance costs, but the greater market can still learn from their behavior. Take the month's highest sale: a Cherry Hills property at 4603 S. Denice Drive that closed for $17 million. The home had been listed since April and saw a single $2 million reduction in May before holding firm through summer and going under contract in September. Headlines might frame this as a substantial drop from the original asking price of $20 million, but context paints a different picture. The same property sold in 2016 for $5.3 million after 186 days in MLS and an 18.18 percent difference between list and sold price. Fast forward to 2025: 168 days in MLS and a 16.2 percent close-price-to-list-price difference. And, 2016 wasn't a weak year. It was strong for real estate, just not as extraordinary as during the COVID boom. Today’s seller spent less time on the market and achieved a contract price closer to list price than the previous owner.
This month’s highest-priced condo sale reinforces that the condo market is far from dead. A Laurel Cherry Creek penthouse in Cherry Creek North drew multiple offers and sold over asking price at $10,125,000 in one day. That same unit sold in 2020 for $6,742,620. Buyers are still waiting, and fighting, for the best.
Segment statistics remain unremarkable for algorithms, but normalization continues. Pendings are up 6.54 percent year-over-year, while solds are down just 2.20 percent. Median days in MLS dropped from 38 to 33 days, and price per square foot ticked up from $376 to $385. Single-family homes continue to outperform attached properties. These numbers suggest both Realtors® and the public have finally adapted to current conditions.
“Like the Denver Broncos learning from 2024, we’re managing expectations better - pricing realistically, taking the time to remove tired listings when necessary,” said Keri Duffy, DMAR Market Trends Committee member and Metro Denver Realtor®. “The fundamentals of real estate remain unchanged: price well, stay patient, negotiate confidently. It may not always be pretty, but you can still pull off a win.”
Added Duffy, “This data may not create viral headlines, but it reflects what's truly happening in Denver's $1 million+ market. When dramatic headlines pop up, pull the data and revisit pre-COVID history for context. Days on market often tell the story. “
Highlights from November’s closed transactions include the sale of the highest-priced attached home, 155 Steele Street Unit #1215 in Cherry Creek North, which sold for $10,125,000, and the highest-priced detached home, 4766 S. Fillmore Court in Cherry Hills Village, which sold for $8,150,000. Both properties were represented by current DMAR Realtor® members.
