Spring didn’t pass over the metro Denver housing market this year. Lower mortgage rates and a wider selection of properties trumped stormy weather, driving a rebound in sales in March, according to an update from the Denver Metro Association of Realtors.
Buyers purchased 4,162 homes and condos in metro Denver in March, a 20 percent increase from February. Compared to March a year ago, sales remain off 11.7 percent.
“Despite the bomb cyclone and cold spells, the market saw a seasonal simmer as spring picked up steam with real estate transactions in March,” said Jill Schafer, chairwoman of the DMAR market trends committee, in comments accompanying the report.
The inventory of homes available for sale rose to 4,314 in March, up 5.2 percent from February and 26.3 percent from a year earlier. The inventory of condos available rose to 1,978, up 3.3 percent from February and up 64.4 percent from a year earlier.
Listings took about a month, or 31 days on average, to sell after they hit the market in March, about 10 days faster than was the case in January.
The increased activity helped push up median sales prices, which dipped on an annual basis for the first time in seven years last month.
The median price of a single-family home sold was $450,000, an increase of 3.7 percent from February and up 1.6 percent from March 2018. The median price of a condo that sold in March was $300,000, up 0.64 percent from February and 0.84 percent from a year ago.
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After a rebound in luxury home sales last month, Schafer notes that buyers lack the upper hand in any price range. But she also adds that sellers need to hit the market with the right list price and have their homes in move-in ready conditions to get their full price.
A big drop in mortgage rates in March, including a big quarter-point drop last week, have helped make home payments more affordable, according to a weekly rate survey from Freddie Mac.
