Metro Denver Summer Real Estate 'Boom' Amid Pandemic: Update

August saw the most metro Denver home sales of any month of August on record, according to a September market trends report. Housing inventory, on the other hand, hit the lowest point for any month of August on record — with 40 percent fewer homes on the market compared to last year.

Single-family homes are "scarce" because "inventory can’t keep up with buyer demand," according to the report, which was released by the Denver Metro Association of Realtors. The scarcity drove up the average single-family home price to a new record high of $606,330.

July also hit a record-high number of home sales in any given month in metro Denver. Home sales dropped in August compared to July by 18.73 percent; however, the 5,959 total homes that did sell "signified the most sales for any month of August on record," the association said. Year to date through August, sales volume was up 3 percent compared to 2019 at more than $20 billion.

Jill Schafer, the chair of the association's market trends committee, said that if more homes hit the market, realtors "would have sold more."

“Unfortunately, there weren’t a lot more homes put up for sale in August. The active listings at month-end showed how desperate things looked,” Schafter said.

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At the end of August, there were 5,496 active listings — down 41.22 percent year to date compared to last year, according to the report. There were 11.13 percent fewer homes added to the market in August compared to July.

“Homebuyers looking to purchase a single-family home really struggled because there were 50.26 percent fewer homes for sale compared to August 2019,” Schafer said. “And we thought inventory was low in 2019!”

“Many homeowners say they’d like to move but the inventory is so low they don’t see anything they’d like to buy. When they don’t put their house on the market there is less to choose from for buyers. Do you see the vicious circle?”

Single-family homes priced between $500,000 and $749,999 had only 0.66 months of inventory. That’s an "extreme seller’s market where demand outpaces supply," the association said.

As buyer demand continues to outpace supply, prices continue to go up.

“If you were looking for a deal, you were out of luck,” Schafer said.

“On average, homebuyers paid more than full asking price for single-family homes and nearly full price for condos. There was not a lot of room for negotiations when multiple buyers were competing for the same home.”

>> Read the full September 2020 Denver Metro Real Estate Market Trends Report here.