Denver metro home values dip in September as inventory continues to grow

Sellers continue to flood the Denver metro area market with more homes and buyers are still cautious, despite a drop in interest rates.

Most homes in the region sold for more than $576,000 in September, according to data from the Denver Metro Association of Realtors Market Trends report released Thursday. The median closing price is down about 2.3% from August as the summer selling season wraps up and home values typically drop, but it’s also down 1.5% year-over-year.

The 11-county metro area saw 5,000 new listings in September, a dip from the previous month by 1% and an increase of 10% from the previous year, the monthly report found.

The housing market had more than 11,100 active listings at the end of the month, up 45% from September 2023 and continuing the trend of a decade-high housing inventory across Denver.

“While the Federal Reserve Bank lowered rates by 0.50 basis points — a larger cut than many expected — buyer activity remained sluggish,” said Libby Levinson-Katz, Realtor and DMAR Market Trends Committee chair, in the report.

The number of closed sales fell 19% from August to 3,092 sales. The region’s sales volume of $2 billion is down 11% from 2023.

The number of days homes are sitting on the market is also climbing. Most homes are on the market for 25 days, compared to 14 days last year.

DMAR began tracking months of inventory in June 2023 and found the housing market crossed three months for the months of inventory for the first time.

“It takes an average of 3.6 months to find a buyer, which traditionally has been characterized as a balanced market,” Levinson-Katz said. “This is a far cry from a pandemic-fueled market which had less than one month of inventory.”

She added some buyers are starting to consider waiting until next spring when the selling season begins to list their homes on the market. But they may miss an opportunity as it’s an election year and home prices typically jump after election cycles.