Good news on homes

Local sales up, inventory down, according to report

New York Times

Thursday, October 9, 2008

Last month provided some encouraging signs for the Denver housing market, according to a monthly report released by a local brokerage company.

Home sales in the Denver metro area rose 14.1-percent last month in comparison to September 2007. Also, the inventory of unsold homes and sale prices for homes in September dropped compared to the same time last year.

“People are realizing there are some great deals right now and they are acting on it,” said Greg Zadel, the president of the Colorado Association for Real Estate brokers. There were 528 more homes sold last month than in September 2007. The median sale price of single-family homes dropped 11.8 percent to $216,150, and the median price for condos dropped 5.5 percent to $139,900. Multiple Listing Service data provided the figures.

Rock bottom prices

Zadel said “we have hit the bottom” for home sale prices. The real estate broker added that people who are able to move up from renting to buying their first home should do so immediately because the field of low-priced houses for sale is getting smaller.

“It’s just a great time to buy a house,” said Zadel.

The number of unsold homes on the market last month dropped 21 percent to 23,923 from a year ago. It marked the fourth straight monthly decline in inventory.

Trend continues

Sales for this month will likely be high as well because homes under contract — those homes that have sold but haven’t officially been closed — soared 21.7 percent last month compared to September 2007. According to Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage (CBRB) — the author of the monthly report — many of those homes under contract will be sold this month.

“The housing market continued to show some positive signs of a turnaround in September, particularly the strong sales numbers and declining inventory of unsold homes,” said a statement from Chris Mygatt, president and chief operating officer of CBRB in Colorado. “I think more and more people are recognizing that there are good values out there for buyers looking to get into the market.”

Other findings

Other findings from the September home sales report include:

• The weekly sales rate of homes jumped to 5.09 percent in September, up from 3.3 percent in September 2007;

• So far this year, closed sales are 37,401, which is down 4.9 percent from the same period a year ago;

• So far this year, sales under contract are 51,220, which is 3.1-percent higher than the same time period last year.

* Sponsored Links *