High appreciation along with historic sales volume created another benchmark in 2020 of over $33.1 billion of residential real estate sold.
In December, the Greater Denver Metro housing market continued to showcase the consistent buyer resiliency to pursue home-ownership. For the first time in Denver’s history, there were over 62,985 homes purchased throughout the year, 6.95 percent more than 2019.
December presented another historically low month of inventory with 2,541 active listings on the market: the first time ever Denver has seen under 3,000 listings. High appreciation along with historic sales volume created another historic number of $33.1 billion dollars of residential real estate sold in 2020. Median attached properties appreciated at 7.11 percent year-over-year while detached properties appreciated at 12.93 percent.
Detached properties continue to be most desired with a limited inventory at 0.4. For single-family detached properties, Denver ended the year with 39.17 percent less inventory than December 2019 with only 1,316 houses on the market. In comparison, there were 1,255 attached properties at the end of December, down 26.95 percent from the previous year.
“In last year’s report, we anticipated the trend of low inventory would extend into 2020, and that was prior to the pandemic,” said Andrew Abrams, Chair of the DMAR Market Trends Committee and Metro Denver REALTOR®. “This year has shown us that forecasting the future is nearly impossible, but it is clear that we will be starting off the year with historically low inventory, high buyer demand and low interest rates.”
“To put it in perspective, in 1990 the Denver real estate market closed only 25,619 homes, which means in 2020 we closed 145.9 percent more homes,” said Steve Danyliw, past Chair of the DMAR Market Trends Committee and Metro Denver REALTOR®. “Over the last 31 years, home prices continue to see robust growth with the average price increasing a staggering 457 percent. Growth has remained consistent since 1990, with the exception of the mortgage market collapse in 2008, and even then our recovery prices have increased by 81.70 percent, one of the highest recoveries in the nation.”
“On first glance the current Denver metro real estate data can feel staggering for potential buyers,” said Lawrence Yun, Chief Economic and Senior Vice President of Research at the National Association of REALTORS®. “However, the current ultra-low mortgage rates are helping buyers to accomplish their American Dream, which means the Denver area is actually still more affordable now than a year earlier even though home prices rose 14 percent. The 30-year fixed rate, which has dropped more than one percentage point over the past 12 months, is hovering into record lows. These low mortgage rates decrease borrowing costs significantly.”
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).
In December 2020, new listings for the Luxury Market were up 14.65 percent compared to 2019, with pending sales climbing to 36.50 percent, and closed sales reaching 34.74 percent.
“The source of these numbers shows Denverites took advantage of historic low-interest rates and right-sized their home,” said Libby Levinson, DMAR Market Trends Committee member and metro Denver REALTOR®. “Additionally, there was a wave of Denver transplants who rushed to the Mile High City seeking a different lifestyle with virtual work opportunities that opened up new possibilities.”
The detached Luxury market experienced the largest growth with every metric experiencing growth for the year except for days in MLS, which showed a decline as properties sold in record time and proved that buyers favored more open and flexible space for a work-life balance. New listings rose in December to over 59.34 percent with 145 listings, up from 91 this time last year.
The attached market, however, had a different outcome this past year with new listings growing slightly year-over-year from 473 in 2019 to 517 in 2020 reflecting a 9.3 percent growth. However, last month this number saw a considerable drop-off down 63.83 percent with 17 listings down from 47 this time last year. The rest of the numbers are slightly lower as well as buyers opted for more space and privacy.
Meanwhile, the Classic Market once again clocked in as arguably the most competitive market with the average days in MLS at 20 days, 23.08 percent lower than 2019, and median days in MLS at only six days, 45.45 percent lower than 2019. 31,913 new residential listings hit the market in 2020, which is 2,255 fewer and 6.60 percent less than the 34,168 that came available in 2019. The Premier Market also unsurprisingly came out stronger in 2020, with the average close price in 2020 at $547,461, up 13.47 percent from $482,487 year-over-year, making the market a firm seller's market.
