February is officially in the books, and it came with an extra day this year! In Denver and Colorado as a whole, February can come with wide swings in weather, and weather (i.e. snow) does impact the real estate market early in the year. Snow tends to delay homeowners putting their home on the market, and it keeps all but the most motivated buyers inside. At 16.5 inches in February, we had our 11th snowiest February on record. Dry starts to the year tend to initiate an early Spring selling season while wetter starts to the year tend to delay the Spring selling season.
Feb 2018 | Feb 2019 | Jan 2020 | Feb 2020 | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Sales Price (Median) | $ 399,933 | $ 399,000 | $ 415,000 | $ 425,000 |
Sales Price to Original Price Ratio | 100.0% | 98.7% | 98.0% | 99.2% |
Number of Sales | 3,290 | 3,400 | 3,189 | 3,399 |
Number of Active Listings | 5,750 | 7,696 | 6,480 | 6,067 |
Months of Inventory | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
Days on Market (Median) | 6 | 14 | 26 | 12 |
Thus far in 2020, we have had a dry January and a wet February which adds an interesting wrinkle to the market. Number of Active Listings decreased in February while Number of Sales increased. Number of Sales is a bit of a lagging metric because the closing typically happens 30 days after going under contract, so many of the Sales that are recorded for February actually went Under Contract in January. I expect Number of Sales to decrease in March based on the weather and reduced listings in February.
Appreciation in the market is up 2.4% from a month ago and 6.5% from a year ago which is great news for current homeowners. For those still looking to enter the market, mortgage interest rates are at historic lows. I have seen 30 year fixed rates in the low 3% range while the historical average rate according to Freddie Mac is 8%. Refinancing is a great option for homeowners in this low rate climate even for those that purchased just a year or two ago when rates reached 5%.
Despite the low inventory, all factors look positive for both buyers and sellers heading into the Spring selling period of April-June. Questions? Email me at p.brady@kw.com