Front Range Real Estate Market Update, March 23, 2023

How does what’s happening in the metro Denver real estate market compare to what’s happening nationwide?

This week, the big news was that there were 14.5% more existing home sales in February than in January nationwide, the first time sales rose month-over-month during the past twelve months. 

In the metro area, trends are similar but not the same.

Sales in our area were also up in February compared to January, but the month-over-month jump was 22.51% here compared to 14.5% nationwide. In January, 2,041 homes were sold in our area. In February, that jumped to 2,661. Our recent increase in sales was higher than the median increase nationwide.

In our area, the rise in sales last month wasn’t the first time sales rose during the past year. In fact, sales here rose steadily last year through May, then started to decline in June. Sales kept going down until they began to increase again last month. So our decline in sales was shorter than it was nationwide.

The median home price in the country last month was $363,000. Here, the median price was $562,500. Prices here are higher than in much of the country (as we all know).

Nationally, the median price dropped 0.2% in February 2023 compared to February 2022. We last saw a year-over-year decrease in June 2012.

Our area’s prices were down year-over-year in January AND February, not just February. In January 2023, prices were down 1.11% from the previous January, and in February, prices were down 2.17% from February 2022. 

So price declines were more significant here than in many other places around the country.

During the pandemic, prices rose most in markets like Denver, Seattle, Boise, and San Francisco. Now, prices are falling in these cities more dramatically than in other parts of the country. In Boise, for example, prices have declined about 4.2% year-over-year. Likewise, San Francisco prices are down about 4.5% year-over-year, Seattle is down 3.91%, Phoenix is down 1.9%, and Austin is down 4.3%. Las Vegas is down 2.37% while Los Angeles prices are down 2.41%. Our median price is down 2.17% year-over-year. Our price decreases are similar to these cities, where prices rose quickly during the pandemic.