Home Sales, Prices Continue to Fall in Colorado Housing Market
Home sales in the Denver housing market dropped in September - and October saw more of the same in the region.
According to statistics released Tuesday by Denver-based Metrolist, prices also continued their downward spiral throughout most of Colorado.
The average price of all single family homes dropped from $283,131 in September to $280,551 in October. The pricing skid is even more pronounced when compared with October 2005, when the average price of a single-family home was $287,331.
The average price for townhomes and condos dropped from $156,250 in September to $152,000 in October. A year ago, the average price of a condo was $188,137, a difference of more than $36,000.
Add these figures up and it’s apparent now is a great time to apply for home loans in the area. Buyers are in control.
“The slide is continuing,” said Lance Chayet, principal at Lakewood-based Hanover Realty. Chayet noted, however, that the 2.3 percent average depreciation among all single-family homes is “reasonable,” given the national housing slump.
Traditionally the number of houses for sale drops in October and remains low through the holiday season. So this wasn’t unexpected.
The number of homes on the market in Denver dropped from 31,450 in September to 29,722 in October. That number is still more than October 2005 when there were 26,496 active listings.
What the numbers don’t tell, Chayet added, are whether the sellers who have taken their properties off the market are doing so temporarily until after the holidays or whether sellers are so desperate that they are allowing their homes to go into foreclosure.
The Colorado foreclosure rate continues to be the highest in the nation, according to RealtyTrac, a California real estate research firm. The company reported Nov. 1 that Colorado leads the country in foreclosures for the second consecutive quarter with one foreclosure for every 127 homes, nearly three times the national average.
This may be due to a high volume of bad credit mortgages coming back to hurt applicants. Rates are resetting and monthly bills are rising out of control.