(Newswire.net — July 3, 2013) Denver, CO — Elite Home Sales Team realtor Jim Romano is citing a published report showing that Denver’s median home price in April was 280-thousand dollars. The numbers reflect a significant increase from the city’s median home price in March, which was just over 268-thousand dollars. The one month price increase is nearly 12-thousand dollars which is equal to about four-percent of the median home price.
Meanwhile, Romano says despite the hot housing market, sellers are not rushing to list their properties. “At the end of April there were about seven-thousand pre-existing homes for sale in the Denver area. That’s about one-third less inventory when you compare it to the year before. Seven-thousand houses for sale is far less than we see in a normal market which is upwards of 20-thousand homes on the market.” Statistics show that available housing inventory in many U.S. cities is lower than 2012 and far below historic averages.
The housing recovery in terms of both value and the number of sales is occurring in Colorado and across the United States. The National Association of Realtors (NAR) reports that Pending Home Sales in a recent month were up seven-percent from the year before. Pending Home Sales is a leading indicator for the housing sector based on pending sales of existing homes.
Also, all 20 major cities in the recently released S&P Case Shiller Home Price Index are reporting gains in overall home prices. Cities including Las Vegas, Phoenix and San Francisco have had year-over-year gains of 20-percent and higher. Those cities are bouncing back faster than others, but they were also among the hardest hit during the housing crisis. The Case Shiller report shows home prices in March were nearly eleven-percent higher than the year previous and at the highest level in more than six years.
Meanwhile, back in Denver, Romano says the housing recovery really started late last year and early this year. “The Colorado Association of Realtors is reporting a 16 percent increase in first-quarter home sales as compared to 2012. The numbers reflect more than 18-thousand sales of single family residences, condominiums, and townhomes during the first three months of this year. These numbers bear out based on our experience at Elite Home Sales Team. We’re seeing home after home sell fast and yet there seems to be a limited number of properties coming on the market. We believe some sellers are holding out for their home values to increase even more.”
Written by +Rob Armijo