Spring has certainly roared in like a lion in the Denver Metro real estate market. The weather is warming up to match the pace of the white-hot housing market. If early sales stats from the Denver area are any indication, we’re in for an interesting ride as we progress through 2021.
Here we are one-year post-COVID, and the Denver housing market is the wildest we’ve encountered in quite some time. Here is a quick overview of some of the unique challenges Denver area buyers are currently facing:
- Interest rates have started to climb
- Prices are on the rise
- Year-over-year appreciation is at 15.26%
- Month-over-month appreciation is sitting at 6.90%
To put this in simpler terms, let’s say you were in the market to buy a $500,000 home. If you waited to pull the trigger from the end of February until the end of March, you would be paying $35,000 more for that home.
Frankly, as a buyer’s agent, we’ve had our work cut out for us, and it can be incredibly frustrating as a buyer to be on the hunt for a home right now. Active listings for this past month are down a whopping 66.74% from this same time last year! Record all-time-low inventory combined with frantic buyer demand has made it clear that homebuyers are feeling the pressure to make heated, emotional decisions, rather than calm, factual ones when it comes to nabbing the home of their dreams. According to the latest market stats from the Denver Metro Association of Realtors, Denver area homes are staying on the market an average of 19 days – but that doesn’t tell the whole story. Many hot homes are going under contract within hours of being listed and most last just a mere weekend. Panicked offers from buyers seeking to avoid a bidding war are rampant. We’ve seen everything from offers 30% over asking on the first day, to no inspection, no appraisal – even hard earnest money from day one. Suffice it to say it is not easy to be a buyer right now.
Here at Hatch, our agents are wearing our losses with as much pride as our wins. We’re accustomed to regularly getting the first or second home our buyers put an offer on. But these days, we remain proud of the fact that we are able to avoid putting our clients in uncomfortable positions (i.e. going well above the asking price, waiving inspection, or going above the appraisal value).
While incoming market statistics can sound overwhelming, know that “overwhelming” does not mean “impossible.” We thrive on a good challenge, and we know how to help navigate our buyers through these radical market conditions. Our primary goal is to protect our clients. That means not putting our buyers in an uncomfortable or risky financial position in order to “win” a bidding war. We’ve got ourselves into the habit of setting expectations with our buyers that it may take a little longer to hone in on that dream home, but that they will get the best deal in this crazy market. Make no mistake, inventory may be low, but there are still some beautiful homes hitting the market.
Questions about what to expect or how to navigate your Denver metro home search? Feel free to reach out! Leave the worrying about how to win the war to us.
