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RSS FeedDecember Snow Affects January Real Estate Market |
Posted at Denver Real Estate Blogspot by Judith Clausen
Feb. 11, 2007
Categorized in: Denver Market Info
Tagged with: january market info
Denver’s average and median home prices dropped in January after an extraordinarily snowy (and cold) two months. The average price for a single family home dropped from $321,524 in December to $297,368 in January, and for condos dropped from $180,084 in December to $170,440 in January. Both single family home and condo prices dropped from January 2006. Gary Bauer, local real estate broker, says that the January price drop was the largest since he began keeping records in 1985. But the one-month data is a misleading indicator of where the Denver real estate market is heading. December’s data indicated a downward trend, but when the snow begins to melt and ice-rutted streets are cleared sales data will change. My hunch is that prices will continue to fall, but activity will rise with warmer temperatures and spring weather. Inventory is still high which generally leads to lower prices.
My own experience during the snowy holidays and January’s much colder, snowy weather indicates pent-up buyer interest. Buyers Advantage Real Estate’s sales activity in December was greater than during any other holiday season in the last ten years. Buyers braved the cold and trudged through two-foot snow to view homes. None of Buyers Advantage clients had four-wheel drive SUVs. We all made it through the snow-packed, ice-rutted streets with conventional autos.
Despite the weather, some sellers took hard stances on pricing. Buyers canceled contracts when sellers wouldn’t budge on price. They simply walked away and found other houses. These homes are still on the market. Sellers must embrace the reality of the buyer’s market if they want to sell their homes. Scrimping on needed repairs and improper renovations are not the way to a buyer’s heart.
