October median single family home prices fell 4.41 per cent over last month, which had fallen 4.85 percent over September. So the two month loss is actually 9.05 percent from August 2007. Average prices have followed a similar trajectory, falling 5.14 percent from September and 12.14% since August. Most of the drop is due to a glut in inventory, although inventory is down somewhat from last year this time by 2.7 percent.

The median price for single family homes in October was $234,200. Average price was $289,754. For condos the median price was $140,000, 5.41 percent lower than in September, and 8.20 percent lower than August. The average price was $176,222, 2.89 percent less than September, and 3.57 less than August.

More condos and single family homes sold in October than in the previous two months, indicating solid buyer activity.

But the above figures don't tell the story of individual neighborhoods. For instance, in East Washington Park, a very popular neighborhood for relocating and move-up buyers, prices have risen 10.3 percent over the last year. Average sold price in October for a single family home is $642,893, well above Denver's average.

In popular City Park, where the average sold price is $344,938, prices have risen just as high, 10.7 percent. And in the gentrifying Five Points neighborhood, prices have risen 10.8% to an average of $302,380.

Buyers are still getting good deals. It could be a statistical error, but according to October figures generated by Denver Metrolist (MLS) the ratio of list to original sales price in October was 79%, which means a whopping 21% discount. Some sellers may still think they're in the hyperinflated market of the 1990s when monthly double digit increases were the norm. Prices have stayed relatively steady since Denver's uptick came to a halt in 2001 until September 2007 when a decrease became noticeable.

It's not easy to predict the future, especially with the subprime and foreclosure mess we have on our hands. In an online conversation with Paul Krugman, Princeton economist and New York Times columnist, in response to my question about the potential for a financial calamity in the U. S., he said:

One chance in five? Some things, like the falling dollar, don't worry me too much. But the potential fallout from the housing bust is very big….What we have now is a banking crisis that doesn't involve banks - instead, it involves "special investment vehicles" and other things that sort of act like banks, accepting what amount to short-term deposits, but fall outside bank regulation. And if this turns into a full-fledged nonbank bank run, which almost happened in August, it's a real mess. In a sense we're looking at what happens when people take free-market ideology too seriously. The Great Depression taught us that banking needs some supervision if you want to avoid potential disaster. By 2000, when Alan Greenspan was brushing off warnings about subprime, we'd forgotten that lesson.

November 5, 2007, RockyMountainNews.com

I don't think we'll suffer quite as much here as in other parts of the country. Denver began its correction in the early 2000s and may well be ahead of the rest of the country, especially places like California where prices are predicted by some to fall as much as 35% before the market there stabilizes due to the scarcity of jumbo loans (loans over $417,000) necessary in high-price areas. Denver's declining values are typically seen in neighborhoods priced below the median price. Higher priced areas seem to be holding their own, or as recently, seeing a rise.

Denver's cost of living makes it an easy choice over higher cost areas like both coasts. It costs 18.8 percent less to live in Denver than in San Jose; 26.9 per cent less than in San Diego; 51 percent less than in San Francisco; and 11.3 percent less than Seattle. If you live in the east, it will cost 34.2 percent less than in Washington, D.C.; 25.2 percent less than in Boston; 53.6 per cent less than in New York; 10.7 percent less than in Philadelphia.

For buyers coming from the south and the midwest, Denver could cost more. It costs 3.9 percent more in Denver than in Atlanta; 11.4 percent more than in Houston; 1.1 per cent more than in Dallas; 13.8 percent more than in Dayton, Ohio; 2.2 percent more than in Minneapolis-St. Paul, and 1.2 percent more than in Detroit. But living in Denver still costs 9.9 percent less than in Chicago, 1.1 percent less than in Portland, and a whopping 35.2% less than in Los Angeles.

You'll need to do your due diligence to compare cost of living between your city and Denver at websites like http://www.bestplaces.net, http://www.bankrate.com/brm/movecalc.asp, or http://cgi.money.cnn.com/tools/costofliving/costofliving.html.

Having an Exclusive Buyers Agent to find the best buys will shore up your buying ability by representing your best interests - finding the best home at the lowest possible price, and saving you time and hassles. See client references at http://www.buyers-advantage.net/references.html Phone numbers available upon request. Call Judith Clausen now at 303-587-3509 to help you find your new home in Denver.